While The World Crumbles We Stand Strong
by Anarchist's Rose
Summary: Ashley hadn't planned on getting pregnant. The opposite, in fact. She wanted to graduate college, get a job, move-in with, and marry Chris before she even thought about having kids. Now at twenty and twenty-one, Chris and Ashley are forced to juggle pregnancy, college and their relationship. Cover created by PeterJefferyPan.
1. September 16th

September 16th:

It was only a matter of time before Chris and Ashley got together, everyone knew that. No one was prepared for how adamant they would be with their relationship, though. When they got off the mountain, it started with constant touching: Chris having an arm around Ashley, Ashley pushing herself into Chris' body, their hands brushing against one another. It was cute. Everyone liked them together. A month or so after they got off the mountain, Ashley started staying at Chris' place about twice a week, until the end of her freshman year of college, Chris' sophomore year, where she was basically at his place every night. They would sleep in one another's arms, giving one another innocent kisses in the living room, giving one another more passionate, but still innocent kisses at night in his room.

Come summer, when they got home, they discovered they no longer could fall asleep without the other with them. Ashley would tell her mom she would be staying the night at Sam's place, and would sneak in through Chris' window and sleep in his full sized bed with him. Chris would tell his dad that he was going to stay at Mike or Matt's place, and would sneak in through Ashley's back gate and go to the guest house in backyard. Ashley would sneak out of her twin sized bed and go sleep in the queen sized bed in the guest house with Chris.

When they were around their friends, they were holding hands and giving one another sweet kisses. They were the only couple to come out of the mountain, after Matt and Emily's big breakup, and Mike and Jessica's break so she could recover in therapy. It was obvious to everyone that Chris and Ashley depended on one another.

When classes started again, Ashley started renting a house in a student housing neighborhood with two roommates, a pair of girls she had come to know over the past year. Chris started staying over at Ashley's place. Like most college students, they eventually engaged in intercourse.

The two of them bust through the front door, causing Ashley's roommates cats, Gretchen and Antigone, to scatter. Her puppy made a whimpering noise from the kennel in the corner. Chris hoisted Ashley up, grabbing her, holding her and kissing her, walking across the room to release the puppy with his left hand, right hand still holding Ashley up. Nothing could break the two of them apart. He carried her up the stairs, clumsily fumbling with Ashley's doorknob. Once he got the door open he threw her on the bed and shut the door behind him. "You sure your roommates aren't going to be home?" he asked nervously. He knew this wouldn't stop him from doing anything, but it would save a lot of awkwardness later.

Ashley shook her head, though. "No, they're at the bar. It's Lori's twenty-second birthday. I couldn't come with them for obvious reasons. I do need to be able to pick them up, which won't be for another few hours."

Chris nodded and smiled, taking off his glasses and putting them on Ashley's nightstand, next to hers, as to not break them or anything else. This was a new experience for both of them. They usually were gentle, romantic, careful with one another when they had sex, making sure to take one another's every action into account before doing anything, but something happened today, something that made them want to melt into one another's arms and forget everything.

Josh.

He had been turned into one of those creatures. They received a phone call from Sam who told them about what new information was coming up in the police reports. A pair of officers were killed, presumably by Wendigo Josh, months ago when they had escaped the mountain. The news upset them both greatly, sending them to one another. Suddenly, without saying a word to one another, they left their date in the middle of the movie. They made it to the car, hand in hand, exchanging innocent kisses, but things quickly became more and more heated. Chris got in the drivers seat, Ashley in the passengers, but neither buckled up. Chris climbed on top of Ashley and started kissing her. When he inched his hands under her bra, feeling up her breasts in just the right way to make her moan, she stopped him. "Not here. My place."

They were now on Ashley's bed. Chris had taken Ashely's shirt off and was fumbling with her bra. Ashley smiled at him and undid it for him herself, unleashing her breasts. She looked shy, but comfortable. She knew if this was anyone else, she would be running for cover. Instead, she was embracing him, unbuttoning the blue button-down he wore specifically for dates. She moaned in pleasure as he flicked her nipples, causing shivers of pleasure to be sent down her spine.

Hastily she unbuttoned Chris' pants, releasing him from the denim prison and allowing herself to be taken with him. She pulled off her pants and panties as Chris pulled off his boxers. Chris pulled out the condom from Ashley's nightstand drawer and quickly put it on, ready to feel the sweet relief that came from being inside her.

Once they were done they collapsed onto one another, relishing in the company the other provided. They turned on Ashley's PS4 and watched Netflix, mostly Disney movies, admittedly, until Ashley got a call to go pick up her friends. The nineteen year old smiled at Chris as she threw on a pair of tight fitting sweatpants that depicted Stitch from Lilo and Stitch on the left leg, and a tye-dye "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirt she had gotten when she was a freshman in high school, that was big enough to fit Chris comfortably. "You coming?"

Chris jumped off the bed and onto his feet, managing to slip on his jeans that were still on the floor, and face planting into the ground. Ashley let out a laugh and helped him up. "Come on, goofball." She grabbed Chris' glasses for him off the nightstand and threw him sweatpants and a blue t-shirt depicting some white lettering displaying his nerd status. Even with the news that had gotten them to this point, the news of Josh becoming a wendigo, they were happy. Everything would be alright.

 **Last night I stayed up until 5 in the morning writing this, because I couldn't bring myself to stop** **writing, so I've the first three chapter completely written. This story will be updated on Saturdays (including this Saturday) but I was so excited to get it out there I published it today! Please let me know what you guys think of this. This is something completely different for me.**


	2. October 9th

October 9th:

"Ash? You awake?" Chris knocked on Ashley's bedroom door. At the foot of her bed Louis, Ashley's puppy, looked up at Chris, excited at the smell of bacon. Ashley turned over and dug her head into her pillow. Chris put the plate of food, eggs and bacon for him, a chocolate chip muffing for her, and a hot chocolate for them to share, on the dresser, far out of Louis' reach. "Come on, Ash. That's no way to act on your birthday. Twenty is a milestone." Ashley turned over and smiled, but there was little color in her face. Chris held up a hand to her forehead. "You feeling alright, Ash?"

She gave him a peck on the cheek and smiled. "Yeah, just tired. What time is it?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "It's ten-thirty, or close to. I would have let you sleep longer but I have plans for us today."

Ashley smiled and grabbed the chocolate chip muffin. "You don't have to do that."

Chris smiled. "Yes I do! Do you remember what you made my twenty-first birthday freaking amazing! I want to do the same for you."

Ashley looked confused. "I baked a cake and got you an amazon gift card because I kept messing up when you told me what you wanted. My roommates got you a lot of alcohol, that you didn't even drink until the next day"

Chris took a piece of bacon and went to sit on his side of the bed. "That's also the day we-"

Ashley nodded. "Oh yeah. That's the first time we had sex, wasn't it?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah." This was back in April, when they had already been an official couple for about two months. They had been happy, excited to lose their virginity to one another. They were much more experienced now...

Ashley swung herself out of bed and made her way towards the bathroom, looking at the white, orange and yellow shower curtain, yellow and rug and yellow towels. She liked her bathroom. It was bright enough so that when she felt like crap, she could at least convince herself she didn't. Bright colors brought happiness, happiness brought safety, safety meant the wendigos were away. Still, she was anxious. Under her sink, hidden in the back so Chris could no way accidentally come across this, was a box with a pregnancy test. She knew she needed to get this out of the way sooner rather than later, test and see if she was... If she found out she was pregnant today then she could at least pretend nothing was wrong and just celebrate her birthday. She went to the bathroom and urinated on the test, which she put in the bathtub while it came up with the results, because the idea of having something she peed on next to her makeup disgusted her. She took her time putting on the foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow, translucent powder, eye liner, mascara, light layer of lipstick, but there was only so much time she could take. She needed to see what the test said before Chris walked in asking what was taking her so long. She felt her heart drop to her stomach upon seeing the result. Pregnant.

One of her roommates had gotten pregnant back in March. The girl had gotten an abortion in late April. They acted like the whole thing never happened. Ashley couldn't do that. She knew she couldn't. She wrapped the test up in toilet paper and stuck it back in the box, hiding it in the same spot. Maybe it was wrong. She could come back and check later. She jumped when she heard a knock on the door. "Everything alright in there, Ash?"

She opened the door, possibly a bit too fast. She managed to hit herself in the forehead with the door, narrowly missing her glasses she had yet to take off. She wasn't sure she was in the mood to put on her contacts today. "Yeah, everything is fine! What makes you think it isn't?" She let out a nervous laugh, trying to convince herself the last fifteen minutes of her life never happened. She looked over at Chris, who was smiling at her. "What are smiling at?"

Chris let out a low chuckle and looked at the floor, a small blush spreading on his cheeks. "I was just thinking about how much I love you." He retreated to the bed as he said this.

Ashley bit her bottom lip, facing away from Chris. "Yeah, uh, I love you too." She looked around in her closet, pulling out a black sundress with white polkadots and big purple roses. She wasn't going to be able to wear this dress for much longer. She had her hair up in a bun, but put it down and redid it, trying to keep the hair off of her neck. She then grabbed white wedges and looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed up with the dress and wedges, but keeping her casual dorkiness with the bun and glasses. She turned to Chris, who was laying on her bed on his stomach, right hand on his phone, left hand absentmindedly stroking Louis. "Ready to go?"

He got up and looked her over. "Wow, Ash, I- I- I mean, you look great. I mean-"

Ashley smiled and gave him a peck to shut him up. "Thanks." Nothing is wrong, she told herself. We're just having a normal birthday celebration.

They headed down the stairs when Ashley was already greeted with a surprise. 'Happy Birthday Ashley' was written on a poster. Underneath sat three presents, obviously from her roommates. Ashley smiled at this. "Open them now," Chris told her. She did as she was told. Inside one was a beautiful golden necklace that came from a retailer like Charming Charlie's or Claire's, where an elephant hung on the end of the chain. It was casual enough Ashley could wear it everyday, but not so loud that she could only wear it as a statement piece. The second present contained a new beanie, blue in color. It wouldn't go with her outfit today, but she loved it nonetheless. It would give her another hat to wear when she didn't feel like doing anything to her hair, which she anticipated would be more and more now. She felt her stomach flutter with butterflies. She had almost convinced herself this morning hadn't happened, that she wasn't pregnant. She distracted herself by opening the last one. It was... a tie? Before she could question anything, Chris had taken the tie out of her hands and tied it around her face. He took her in his arms, both of them laughing the entire way out to the car.

"So... where are we going?" It was about fifteen minutes of driving later. They had been talking and singing along to the radio, albeit, very badly. She hadn't taken her blindfold off, or even tried to peek. Ashley loved surprises.

"You'll see. We're almost there." Ashley heard the blinker and felt herself starting to sway with the motion of the car. A couple more minutes and they were parked. Ashley could hear families walking by, hear the sound of excited young children. Children. Family. She felt like she was going to be sick. Chris could see it, too. "You okay?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I just need a minute to calm myself, or something." Chris probably just thought this was anxiety from the mountain. He wasn't aware it was something else entirely. She wanted to tell Chris so bad. She needed to tell him, but she wanted to enjoy this last day of it being just the two of them, no discussion of a third. She sat there breathing in and out, slow deep breaths, until she felt like she could handle herself. "Let's go!"

She heard Chris' chuckle and heard him get out of the car and come over to help her out. When the door opened she heard shushing. When the blindfold was taken off she was surprised. She looked around and immediately recognized where they were- the aquarium. Chris took her to the aquarium for her birthday, which he knew was one of her favorite places in the world. This was a great birthday.

Ashley loved the aquarium. She practically had the place memorized by now. She knew where the touch tanks were, and how to make sea urchins hug her fingers with their spikes. She knew how to stroke the small sharks just right to make them comfortable enough to come back to her, she knew how exactly to pet a stingray, and was prepared to get elbow deep in the water, if need be. She knew the otter exhibit, the large shark exhibit, that also housed large fish and a turtle who was missing two flippers. She knew the dolphins names, Kai and Shadow. She loved this place. She could imagine taking her son and daughter here, showing them all the fish and seahorses, taking cheesy pictures in front of the giant shark jaw. For the first time since finding out she was pregnant, the thought of her having a baby was bearable.

Chris noticed Ashley's thoughts drift away. "Ashley? Ashley, are you alright?"

She turned to Chris and nodded. "Yeah, just fine. I was just thinking, that's all."

They were standing next to the otter exhibit. The otters were running around, jumping in and out of the water, going up and down the water slide in their exhibit. They looked like they were having so much fun. Ashley tensed for a moment when she felt arms wrap around her waist, quickly dissolving into them a moment later. Chris placed his head on Ashley's shoulder and they just stood there, watching the little creatures. Bliss. After a moment, Chris planted a kiss to Ashley's temple and pulled away, getting his phone out of his pocket to take a picture. "Smile!"

She was about to, when she had a better idea. Grabbing the phone out of Chris' hand, she got them into the perfect position to take a selfie. "It's better with both of us."

Last day where it would be just the two of them. She would tell Chris tomorrow. She worried how he'd react, but knew she had no choice.

 **Oh my gosh, guys! I'm so excited, I love writing this story so much! I would like to dedicate this chapter to my wonderful friend Candice who has been making beautiful banners for my different stories. She is so talented! One is coming out for this story soon, and, oh my gosh, I saw the first part of it and I want to cry I love it so much! Please leave a review and tell me what you think of her different banners, if nothing else, because I am in love with them.**


	3. October 10th

October 10th:

There it was. She knew it was coming. She was lucky that she hadn't actually thrown up yet, and instead was just constantly nauseous, but there it was, morning sickness. Joy. Because of how their class schedules worked, Ashley had to be up before Chris, ready to go. He was usually just getting out of bed when she was leaving the apartment. She hadn't tried to wake Chris up, but she guessed with the bathroom door open, and how light a sleeper Chris was, it was no surprise when she felt her hair get lifted off of her neck, and felt a cool washcloth get placed there. Once she finished throwing up, she felt worlds better, but Chris wouldn't have it. "Nope. You're not going to classes today. Get back in bed."

She sighed and did as she was told. It was pointless to argue with Chris. She knew Chris probably wouldn't go to class either, considering how much of a worrywart he was. She had to tell him. What to say, though? She she just bluntly say she was pregnant while they were watching whatever movie Chris turned on for them to watch, or should she break it to him gently? She had to be prepared for the worst, even though there was no part of her that believed Chris would walk away and abandon her. She shook her head. Chris was downstairs, telling her roommates that she was sick, probably getting ginger ale, cheese and crackers for her to munch on. Louis was on the foot of her bed. Ashley sighed and patted the space next to her, beckoning the puppy over to her. "How do you feel about a little brother or sister?"

"Are you already planning on getting another dog, Ash?" She didn't hear Chris come in. "Come on, you've had Louis here for how long? Two months? Replacing him already?" There was humor on Chris' face. He grabbed the leash from its hook over on the back of Ashley's door. "I'll take him for a walk, this morning. Don't worry about getting up."

This was her chance. She could tell him now. "No, no, I think some fresh air will do me some good." Chris looked reluctant. "If I start to feel worse than I'll come straight back."

This seemed to convince Chris. "Fine, just, be careful, okay?"

"I will." Ashley kept the sweatpants she was wearing on, kept on the fuzzy socks she was wearing, and put on a bra and t-shirt depicting a random school event she didn't even attend, as well as a pair of converse, again, not bothering to put on her contacts and just opting on glasses. "Let's go." She noticed Chris was dressed similarly to her, sweatpants, random t-shirt and old converse. They almost looked like a young, married couple. Ashley smiled at this, but kept the thoughts to herself. They walked out the front door and walked hand in hand through the neighborhood before reaching the small dog park and letting Louis loose with one other dog, a large brown one that could probably eat the Cavalier King Spaniel in a second if it wanted to. She sighed. Now or never. "Chris... We need to talk."

She saw all the color drain from Chris' face, his eyes widen in shock. "We need to talk? Those are the famous last words of any breakup..."

Ashley laughed, feeling less nervous, than before. "Oh, oh my gosh, no Chris. No. I'm not going to breakup with you."

Chris let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, sorry. You know, those words come out and everyone just assumes the worst, you know?" Ashley nodded. She understood. "So anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

Her heart was hammering away in her chest. She had to tell him. She had to. Her mouth was cotton dry, though, and her thoughts suddenly disappeared. She felt like she was going to vomit again. Sure enough, before she could say anything, cheese, crackers and ginger ale were all over the ground. Chris started patting her back. The owner of the large brown dog looked on with a combination of disgust and pity on his face. "Go back home. I'll finish up here with Louis and then you can tell me." Ashley nodded. This was going to be harder than she thought.

It was only five minutes after Ashley got back home before Louis was back and begging to join her on the bed. She picked up her puppy, put him on the bed, and looked at the door, expecting Chris to come through. He didn't. "Chris? Chris?" She got out of bed and walked over to her window. His car was gone. "Where did he go?" She took out her phone and sent him a text. It was a few minutes before he responded. He would be right back according to the text. She turned on her PS4 and started watching Netflix (Scooby-Doo, she was secretly obsessed) until she fell asleep waiting for him.

She stretched as she woke up from the nap. Chris was sitting on the edge of the bed, with what looked like DVDs of musicals, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeny Todd, Into the Woods, as well as few other musical movies that Ashley loved. There was a few chocolate bars on top of them, as well a couple boxes of tampons. Chris' back was to her. She got to her knees, and put her arms over his shoulders, starting to cling to him like a spider monkey, then she noticed why his back was to her, what was in his hands. Her face paled. It was the pregnancy test. Chris' voice was quiet when he finally said something. "I bought you some tampons. I was going to put them under your cabinet for you, but, I saw the box." Ashley didn't know what to say. "Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?" Ashley nodded before bursting into tears, suddenly afraid of what was to come. She had herself convinced Chris wouldn't leave her, but what if he did? What would she do on her own? She was surprised to feel his arms come around her, feel his hands stroking her hair. "It's okay, Ash. We'll get through this."

She pulled away slightly, so she could look into his eyes. "We'll?"

Chris kissed the top of her head. "Whatever happens, Ash, I'm not going anywhere."


	4. October 11th

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **This chapter contains controversial subject matter. I tried to write this chapter in a way that progressed the story but also showed real feelings. My goal is to make the reader think, not to make the reader hate me. Please be mindful of this while reading this chapter.**

October 11th:

Ashley took a deep breath as she headed downstairs that Tuesday morning. Her roommates were sitting at the bar that divided the living area from the kitchen, Lori drinking a smoothie and Kara eating a plate of bacon and pancakes. Last night she and Chris agreed she needed to tell her roommates about this as soon as possible, as they would be affected by the situation. Ashley had butterflies flying in her stomach, a million of them just wanting to burst out and flutter through the room. Kara was the first to notice Ashley standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Ash."

"Hey," she said, ducking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water, gagging slightly at the overly sweet smell of maple syrup. She distracted herself by walking to the pantry and grabbing strawberry breakfast pastry bars and snacking on that. She wished Chris was here, but he had gone home last night because he felt like he was crowding Lori and Kara too much. She ate half of the package and downed half the water, as if it was an alcoholic beverage, giving her courage. "So... Can I talk to you two before you guys go to class?"

They looked at one another and nodded, Lori speaking up. "Yeah, bro. What's up?"

Ashley looked at the petite girl, five foot at max height, maybe a hundred pounds. It was hard to believe the girl had been pregnant just a few months ago. She turned her attention to her other roommate, at least two inches taller than her, but so much more beautiful. It was no wonder she was always turning heads when guys walked by. Ashley wished this conversation didn't need to happen. "So, this might be a bit surprising, so... just be warned."

Kara spoke up. "You and Chris want to have sex?"

Ashley's eyes widened, and a blush spread over her face. "No! I- I mean- we- you know, started having sex a few months ago... On his twenty-first..."

Ashley's roommates looked at one another in shock. "Ashley had sex!" Kara gave Ashley a huge hug. "I'm so proud of you for getting over being such a fucking prude!" Lori yelled from across the bar. Ashley had no response to this.

"Was that what you wanted to talk to us about?"

Ashley shook her head, then thought better and shrugged. "I mean, kinda. Well... Um... The thing is..." She took a breath and looked at the girls, excuses running through her head, the words coming to her faster than she could say them coherently. "I thought we were being careful, I mean, we always used a condom, and we were very careful with one another and made sure to do everything right, because we're both paranoid about STD's and stuff, you know? So anyway-"

"Ashley, fam, I love you but get to the point." Lori was giving Ashley an intense look. She was done with bullshit.

"I'm pregnant."

Kara and Lori both looked shocked at the news. They had just found out their "innocent" little roommate, the live-in DD, the wouldn't look at a penis at all her freshman year, was suddenly pregnant. "How far are you, do you think?" Kara was immediately asking questions, a plan forming in both Lori and Kara's mind. This had happened before.

"Um, four weeks or so, probably. I mean, Chris and I only do stuff when you guys go out, and you haven't been out recently."

The two older girls looked at one another. "That's not far along. We can take you to where I got my abortion on Saturday. You just rest for a day after then you'll be good as new."

Ashley should have expected this conversation, but it still took her by surprise when Lori brought this up. "I'm not going to get an abortion. I'm going to have it."

"Don't be stupid. You cannot have a kid while you're in college. It's academic suicide!" Lori was trying to convince Ashley while Kara stood on her phone, fingers whisking away, no doubt looking up numbers and starting to look up information.

"I- I just can't kill it! It's a baby."

Lori rolled her eyes. "It's a group of cells. It's not alive yet."

Ashley disagreed once again. "What do you mean? I'm going to have it. I screwed up, but someone else shouldn't have to pay for my mistakes."

"Oh! So me getting an abortion was a mistake then? I'm just an awful human being, huh?" Ashley saw the fire behind Lori's eyes.

"That's not what I said!"

"You're not going to live here if you have that _thing,_ so either get rid of it, or find a new place to live. I'm not going to live with your fuck up." She stormed off. Ashley could hear the door slam, and a few minutes later she could smell the scent of weed drifting downstairs. She took her phone and went out to the patio, sitting on the wooden swing that lived out there, hating the smell wafting through the house. Before long, Kara came outside to sit with her.

"I'll support you, no matter what you choose, but be reasonable, okay? Both have their pros and cons." Kara gave Ashley a hug before going inside.

Ashley couldn't concentrate in class all day. She spent her classes with search bars about pregnancy and abortion open, sitting in the back of the class so no one could look at her screen. She texted Chris, telling him to come over that evening. He was more than happy to agree to.

She got home and stared at an empty word document on her laptop screen, trying to pretend to be productive until Chris came over. It was after five when he finally managed to get to Ashley's room. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a smile. "What's up? I came over as soon as I got out of class."

She smiled. "I know. I just am trying to figure out when life begins."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Lori thinks that the baby isn't alive yet, it's just a group of cells, and so getting it aborted would be like, I don't know, getting a tumor removed? What do you think?"

She looked at Chris. He was obviously on his way to getting deep in thought. Eventually he came up with an answer. "It depends on whether cells are alive. If you think cells are alive, then, yeah, it is alive, but if cells aren't alive, then, I'm not sure."

"So is there just this magical moment when it stops being a group of cells and magically becomes a baby?"

Chris ran his fingers through Ashley's hair, playing with the ends of it, hoping to calm her down before she got too worked up. "I thought you didn't want an abortion?"

She laid her head down on Chris' shoulder. "I don't, but Lori is kicking me out if I don't get one."

This was when she noticed Chris get angry. "She can't do that! It's your place as much as it is hers! You pay rent! You signed a lease! Ashley, don't do this just because she is going to be a bitch!"

She got Chris to calm down. "Alright, I won't get one. I didn't want one when I found out I was pregnant, and I don't want to get one just because Lori is going to pressure me into one."

He kissed her forehead. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

She nodded. "Positive." She looked at the bed, which felt empty without Chris next to her last night. Louis was sitting at the edge of the bed, keeping her feet warm, but he couldn't replace the comfort Chris brought her. "Stay with me tonight?"

He smiled. "Sure."

 **This chapter, more than others, contains a lot of my personal life and real experiences that have happened to me. The story does not necessarily support my views on this subject. I thought this was an important chapter to include in the story, though, which is why I even put pen to paper with this chapter in the first place. I hope you enjoyed.**


	5. October 27th

October 27th:

"So, Ash, when are you moving out?" Lori was standing in the doorway of Ashley's room. Ashley had a book open and was lying on her stomach. She could always forget her worries with a John Green novel. Currently she was reading Looking for Alaska. Or she was before she was interrupted. She suppressed the urge to let out an annoyed sigh and turned her attention to the girl standing there. She felt as though Lori lost the right to call her Ash.

"As soon as I find a place, Lori."

Lori gave a smug look and crossed her arms. "Sooner the better." She paused, giving her a slightly compassionate look. "You can still get an abortion, you know. You have a few weeks."

Ashley shook her head. "No, Lori. I really don't want one. I screwed up and I'll deal with it."

Lori rolled her eyes and turned away from Ashley. "Whatever. Just don't come asking me for help."

Ashley sighed and resisted the urge to lift the middle finger towards the girl she once considered her friend. Instead she turned her attention back to her book, letting the world of the story take over her mind. This was her favorite form of therapy, using books to ignore the world she had come to know. While everyone here, at the college, knew she and Chris had been through a traumatic experience, but neither of them would say what happened to them, for fear of sounding insane. It was unlikely anyone would ever believe them. If she could learn to escape then, even for a little while, then she could learn to escape now. This wasn't a life or death situation, she had to remind herself. This happened to a lot of people. She could deal with problems, even for a small amount of time, by escaping into books. She was taken out of the world created in the pages by a small knock on the door. She looked up and there was Chris, standing there. "Kara let me in," he said, awkwardly cradling the back of his neck with his hand. He hadn't been over since she told her roommates she was pregnant. Lori wouldn't let him come in, and as a final nail in the coffin she would bring home a different guy after each work shift and be as affectionate as she could with them in front of Ashley, as if to tell her this could be hers if she would just get rid of the life growing inside her. Ashley didn't realize how much she missed having Chris around. She went over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey."

She smiled. "Hey."

There was a gleam of excitement in Chris' eyes that Ashley couldn't ignore, even if she wanted to. She didn't know what caused the excitement. It was an average Thursday, neither of them were having bad days or vivid flashbacks, but she wouldn't say it was an extraordinary day either. "What's with the look?"

He shrugged. "What look?"

"That look you're giving me now!" A small burst of laughter erupted from her lips, a stark contrast considering the somber mood in the novel.

"Well, I have a surprise for you." Surprise? Ashley had to resist the urge to cringe. Chris had an awful definition of surprises. She lost count of the times him and Josh would team up to cause a prank of some sort, sending her, or whoever was the subject of the prank, into disarray. The would tell their friends that they had a surprise for them to lure them over to be pranked. Chris must have seen the tentative look on Ashley's face, because he quickly backtracked. "Not a surprise, for say. Well, it is, but a pleasant one. You'll like it!"

She gave in, hoping she wouldn't regret giving into his request. "Alright, I'll go. Let me put Louis up in his kennel real quick." Once she had put Louis into his kennel they headed down the stairs. Kara was in the kitchen cooking what looked like spaghetti. Lori was sitting on the couch, television on and textbook open to some medical science: nothing that Ashley would be interested in.

"Where are you guys going?" Kara noticed the two coming down the stairs.

"Honestly, I don't know. Chris said he has a surprise." Kara shrugged and returned to her cooking. Lori didn't even spare them a glance. Sighing, Ashley opened the door to go outside. They hopped into Chris' Trailblazer and started to drive away.

It was ten minutes before Chris pulled into a decent looking apartment complex. "What is this?" Ashley asked.

"You'll see," he said. He walked her to the leasing office and asked for a tour. They got one. The apartment was a two bedroom, fairly decent sized place, that probably could use a few upgrades, but looked decent over all. It included a master bedroom next to a smaller bedroom. It only had one bathroom, but that's all they really needed.

"When did you go looking for apartments?"

Chris looked sheepish. "I mean, if we're going to have a baby then I thought you would want to move out sooner rather than later, and I know Lori has been on your ass about moving out since you told her and Kara, so I looked into a few places. This seemed like the best one. Do you like it?" Ashley didn't know what to say. She never considered herself lucky after the events of that night, but at this moment she knew she was one of the luckiest girls in the world. "We could put your bookcase right here, and the television and PS4 could go right next to it on this wall! It's a large living room, so there will be plenty of space for Louis' kennel, and the bedroom that would be the nursery has plenty of space to, I mean, if you want to keep it instead of putting it up for adoption." The thought suddenly struck Ashley. She hadn't even considered adoption as an option. She could think about that later. Right now she was just watching a frantic looking Chris, glasses slightly askew, looking up at her with hopeful, clear blue eyes.

"I love it Chris," she finally managed to bring herself to say.

She could see the smile light up his face. It was the same smile he had once the full feeling of relief set in once they got off the mountain. She never forgot that face. It was the face she fell in love with. "Really? I- I mean, great!"

Ashley suddenly felt her stomach drop. She knew what this meant. "We have to tell them, now."

Chris nodded. "Our parents are going to be so pissed off."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah." She paused a moment. "Maybe we should tell someone else first? As practice, you know?"

Chris nodded. "Alright. The gang?"

"Exactly."


	6. October 30th Part One

**Sorry that it's a bit late! My sister graduated on Saturday and I wasn't able to get the chapter out when I wanted to because of it! Hope you all enjoy it, though!**

October 30th:

"So we have to sign the last of the paperwork and then we're free to move in later this week?" Ashley was finishing packing up the last pieces of furniture from her old room. Her phone was across the room on speaker, talking to Chris, as he was finishing packing up all his stuff as well.

"Yeah. I was going to go in this afternoon, if you wanted to come with me." His voice was slightly muffled. She assumed he was carrying something. It was heavy, by the sound of it, because he let out a few grunts.

"Yeah. Can we meet at four or four thirty at the complex? The girls managed to come to town and we were going to go to a cafe or something."

She could practically see Chris nod his head. "Cool, cool. Well I'm sure they brought the guys with them, so maybe they'll help out packing. How is your room coming?"

She looked around. Everything was packed up neatly into boxes, one for bedding, one for shoes, and an assortment of others stacked carefully around the room; her makeup bags were packed with her makeup and hair supplies, neatly placed into a single overnight bag that contained her basic toiletries, as well as pajamas and a few changes of clothes. "It's almost done. I'll come back after I meet the girls and load everything into my car."

"If I get my stuff loaded, the guys and I will stop by and come start on yours, if you want." She smiled at Chris' consideration. She knew he was usually looking out for others as much as he was looking out for himself, if not more so. He was the funny guy in their group, but he was also the guy that was making fun of himself more than anyone else, offering to take peoples trash for them if they finished eating, and hold doors open for women. He was just raised to be a gentleman. Ashley didn't realize how much she appreciated that.

"Yeah, that would be great, Chris. Thanks."

"No problem. I'll see you later okay? Tell me how it goes with the girls?"

She nodded, vaguely aware Chris couldn't see her, but she didn't particularly care. "For sure."

Her heart was beating like a jackhammer in her chest. "Well, here goes nothing." She put on a brave face and walked out her bedroom door, down the stairs, and to her car. She had to see them, no matter how much she was dreading it. She was sure Chris would tell Matt and Mike when he saw them.

The drive to the cafe felt like a thousand years, when it only took seven minutes or so. The sheer anticipation of having to face her best friends and told them she screwed up in a way none of them had was intimidating. What would they say? Would they hate her? Would they be supportive? She was the first to arrive -thank goodness- but that just gave her more time to think about what she was going to say. "Would you like anything to drink, Miss?" a cafe worker asked Ashley.

She nodded. "Yes, please, a peppermint hot chocolate please?" She wasn't a huge fan of tea or coffee, so hot chocolate seemed to be the best choice. As soon as the waitress left, Ashley saw Sam's familiar red Jeep roll into view. She almost wanted to cry at the familiarity of it. Emily hopped out of shot gun, and Jessica hopped out of the backseat. They must have carpooled. That was a smart idea. "Hey guys!"

She was greeted with a large, gentle hug from Sam, a bear hug from Jessica, and a quick, affectionate, hug from Emily. Ashley was glad most of the animosity from everything that happened in the past disappeared. For a few weeks, none of them could speak to one another, it was too hard, but when they found one another once again, they fell back into their old patterns and were stronger than before. Jessica and Emily had even resolved the issues going on with them. Sam quickly became their fearless leader, once again, even though she would never acknowledge she was their leader, with Emily taking second in command. Jessica became the one who could hook up a party, and Ashley would be their to drive them home, the group mom. How fitting was it that she was about to become a mom? Yet, at the same time, she was also the most child-like and naive. Was this really a good thing? "So, guys, I bet you're all wondering why Chris and I asked you to come visit us with such short notice?"

"It was a no brainer. We assumed you guys were going to throw the annual Halloween party this year." Jessica had a smile on her beautiful face, and Sam and Emily seemed to be in agreement.

Shit. She had to throw a party too? She didn't know how to do that, or at least not the kind Jessica wanted. Alcohol and loud music were not here scene. "Well, I mean, that wasn't the reason, but I could throw one, maybe, if you wanted."

"It's fine, Ash. We can find something to do, I'm sure. It must have been important. Chris sounded pretty urgent when he called us a few days ago. What's up?" Sam. The voice of reason. It was so much harder for Ashley to tell Sam than it was for anyone else.

"Well," she started, "Chris and I are moving in together."

That seemed to be a bit of a shock to the other girls. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emily asked. "I mean, you two haven't even been dating a year."

Sam nodded. "Why the rush? You two have basically forever to do this."

Ashley smiled at the waitress who gave her the hot chocolate. She took a second to compose herself as the other girls ordered- hot tea for Sam, coffee for Emily, and a water with lemon for Jessica- before she spoke again.

"We really don't have all the time in the world." Their stares seemed to intensify. "I'm just going to put this out there. Um," deep breath, "I'm pregnant."


	7. October 30th Part Two

**This chapter is a couple days early, but I might be going to the lake this weekend, so incase I couldn't get it out then, I wanted to get it out now!**

October 30th:

"I'm pregnant."

Silence. That is what greeted Ashley. Complete silence. Her heart beat like a jackhammer in her chest. She wanted to cry out to them, ask them to say something, beg them to tell her they'll be with her through this, or beg them to yell at her and tell her what a screw-up she was. They said nothing though. They were all too busy staring at her in shock. Sam wide eyed, Emily looking at her almost like she was joking, and Jessica who's jaw had physically dropped. They were still silent when she got up. "I've got to pee," she stated, and she ran away.

She did have to go to the bathroom, in fact. It wasn't a lie she made up just so she could escape the judgement of her friends. She heard that constantly needing to pee was something that happened to pregnant ladies, but she didn't expect it to really happen to her. Her friend's reactions... she almost wished she could have pulled out a video camera and say it was just a prank. Instead, here she was, sitting in the stall of a cafe bathroom. It needed to be cleaned. There was toilet paper all over the place. She let out a long sigh as she finished. This was ridiculous. She was afraid to go back over to her friends. She could do the classic sneak out the bathroom window trick, but there wasn't a window in here. She felt a bit hopeless. She left the stall, flushed the toilet, and looked in a mirror. There were bags under her eyes. Why did she look so tired? She pumped the pink, generic soap into her hand and scrubbed for longer than she usually did. She was aware she was stalling for time. "I don't know what to do," she whispered to herself. She chose to go through with this, though. The aching in her breasts told her so. Her constant need to pee told her so. She looked at herself in the mirror. "You can do this," she told herself. She wasn't so sure. No going back.

She walked back through the cafe and went to sit back down with the others. Inquisitive looks sat on their faces. It was obvious from the way they suddenly pulled away from one another that they had been talking about her. They must have elected Sam to be their spokesperson, though, because she was the one to take a breath and speak up, though it was obvious Jessica was dying to know all the details. "You're pregnant?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, um, I am. That's kinda why I asked you all to come here."

"Okay. How far along are you?"

She hadn't really thought about it, but she knew Chris and her didn't have sex that often. The last time was actually the date of her former roommates birthday drinking party, so the sixteenth of September. She pulled out her phone and counted up weeks. "Um, like, seven, I think?"

"Do you have a doctor?" She shook her head. She hadn't really gotten around to that. She was too busy with dealing with Lori and trying to move out. "Okay then, we'll get you all set up!" She paused, then looked at Emily, who had a dark look in her eyes. "I'm not asking her. You were the one who wanted to know." What was so awful that Emily wanted to know that Sam refused to ask?

Emily shifted to the edge of her seat, held her coffee in her hands -they're drinks must have been brought out while she was in the restroom- and looked Ashley, dead in the eyes. "Chris knows, right?"

Ashley nodded urgently, a wave a ref lief washed over her. The question wasn't nearly as bad as she expected it to be. "Of course Chris knows! He found out weeks ago! It was his idea for us to move in together, actually. One of my roommates is kicking me out because she didn't want to deal with, well, you know, and he offered to move in with me so we could have the baby together, or whatever. I don't even know if I'm going to keep it, if I'm completely honest."

"Uh, yeah you are!" A huge smile was plastered on Jessica's face, excitement coming out of every beautiful blonde inch of her body. "I'll throw you two the best Baby Shower! Oh my gosh!" She stood up and walked over to Ashley, who was taken aback by the sudden change in tone. "I don't care what anyone else says, I'm happy for you, and I know you'll be an awesome mom, and Chris has been cracking dad jokes since we were kids, so that means he'll be a great dad!"

A smile started to show on Ashley's face. It was amazing to have Jessica's support, more than she could hope for. "Thank you."

Sam and Emily followed suit, both warming up more as Jessica grew more and more excited. By the end of their coffee date, they were all bubbly with excitement. "So, do you want a boy or a girl?"

"What?" Ashley turned to Sam when she asked. "I haven't really thought about it. I mean, either would be cool."

Sam nodded, and everyone started to take bets. "It's going to be a girl, I feel it," Jessica practically gleamed as she climbed into Sam's jeep.

Emily shook her head. "No way. It's totally going to be a boy."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Please! I'm already imagining the gender reveal party! Pink balloons everywhere."

A smirk was plastered on Emily's face. "Really? I'm seeing blue."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Does it really matter? We all know Ash and Chris' kid will probably be the cutest baby ever." She looked at Ashley before she climbed into the Jeep. "Let's meet back at your place. We'll help you finish up packing. You don't want to be carrying everything around, do you?"

She smiled. "Thanks, Sam." Ashley climbed into her car and started the familiar drive back to her current residence. The drive she thought about what everyone had said. Baby Shower? Gender Reveal Party? This was all going so fast… At least her friends had her back.

When she finally got to her place, parked outside was a truck, bed completely full of boxes, that she recognized to be Matt's. The football team decal on the back window said so. Beside it was the blue Trailblazer that belonged to Chris. From the look of the backseat, he was just about out of room. Luckily, Ashley had plenty of room in her car.

She led the girls upstairs and they were met with an almost comedic sight. Matt and Mike seemed to be having a "dick measuring" contest by seeing who could carry the most boxes at once. Chris was standing, quite precariously, on a chair, placing a box on top of Matt's stack, giving him four boxes versus Mike's three. A small cough from Sam caught their attention, causing Chris to fall off the chair, knocking Mike over in the process. By some miracle Matt remained standing, and gently placed the boxes on the ground. Ashley looked at the time on her phone. It was about thirty minutes until four. "So, aren't we supposed to be meeting at the complex soon, Chris?" He was still on the floor, flat on his back, a wince on his face.

"Uh, yeah. Well we got done with my place early so we thought we would help out here." He stood up, rubbing his back.

"Yeah, uh, in what world is this helping? If anything, you buffoons are making this place a bigger mess." Emily to the rescue. She went on to chastise them while Sam went on the hunt for Louis, who was cowering in the bathroom.

Eventually Matt stopped listening to Emily's preaching and turned his attention to Ashley. "So why are you and Chris moving in together anyway? It's a bit soon, isn't it? Not that I think that you two aren't perfect together or anything. It's just that, you know, I don't want you to do anything you'll regret in a month." Chris didn't tell them. Of course.

For some reason telling Matt was incredibly hard. The two of them went back years, possibly further back than anyone else she knew. He defended her in elementary school when the others were making fun of how many books she brought to class, and played tag and swings with her, even though he was invited to play soccer with the cool kids. When the popular girls in seventh grade were pulling her hair in class, and she walked out crying, he was the one who took her to the counselor. When she decided to stop publicly being the smart girl in their sophomore year of high school because the one asshole was texting about her under the table and being a complete dick, he was the one who told on him to the teacher, not minding that he was being called a snitch, then walked with her in the hallway to get a drink when she started crying. He had been through a lot with her. She almost felt like she was betraying him. "You might want to sit down," she said. She looked at Mike who had turned his attention to, the now incredibly tense, Ashley. "You too, Mike."

They went to sit on the edge of her bed, which was nothing more than a mattress, fleece blanket, and pillow. Sam directed the other girls in cleaning up the boy's mess, while Chris came to Ashley's side and took her hand in his. A genuine look of concern was spreading across both Mike and Matt's faces. "Ashley, what's going on?" Matt asked.

"Um, my roommate, Lori, is kicking me out."

Mike's turn to speak up. "What the fuck? Why?"

Ashley looked at Mike. He was the closest thing she had to an older brother. He looked out for her almost as much as Matt did, once they started hanging out in the same friend group. He had her back at the lodge. She knew he would protect her with almost no regard to himself. That's just the kind of person he was. He would probably kill Chris when he found out. "Actually, um, it's kinda reasonable." She took a breath. She felt Chris' hand tighten around hers. That was all she needed to give her strength. "I'm pregnant."

The two of them looked at her like they hadn't heard her correctly, before they looked at Chris, then back at Ashley. Matt sat there in silence, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to decipher how this could have happened to his most "innocent" friend, the most innocent one in their friend group. Mike, on the other hand was spitting out words, not quite forming questions or sentences. "Sex? What? I- I- What? How? I mean- What? Fuck… Ash."

Chris nodded. "Um, yeah, so, that about sums it up," he let go of Ashley's hand before slowly backing up to the door. The sudden fiery looks in Mike and Matt's eyes made it obvious that Chris was a goner. He ran, they chased. She realized why Chris hadn't told the two of them while it was just them three here. She knew theta he was in for a lecture later.

Sam came up behind Ashley, a small smirk plastered on her face. "Think he'll be okay?"

Ashley shrugged. "Who knows?" The jackhammer feeling her heart had all day had finally calmed down. Everything would be okay, she knew it. She had the best friends anyone could ask for. "Everyone clear out of the bathroom! I have to pee."

 **This chapter is longer than the other ones, but that's because I was having so much fun being able to write the other characters in! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! This story has me doing a bunch of research… I currently have three spreadsheets out on my bed, as well as three tabs open on my laptop. My email has actually been sending me baby updates because of this story…? I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I hope I'm accurate with everything. If you notice anything alarming or just want to tell me how I'm doing with this story, please shoot me a review! I also have a poll open on my page where you can guess the gender of Chris and Ashley's baby, though I have already decided what it will be. I hope to see you all there voting!**


	8. November 2nd

**So I didn't go to the lake this weekend, so here is another chapter! I hope you like it!**

November 2nd:

"And, that's the last box." Ashley smiled as Chris threw the box into the trash can. The apartment looked amazing. The unpacking went fast with the gang helping them unpack and get things set up, but they had all left the day before so they could get back to classes. They had enough of a vacation. Chris and Ashley hadn't been missing class, so they would get home from school and see the gang fiddling with a box, trying to figure out where things went. The biggest mess probably happened on Halloween, when they actually moved in, and Matt and Mike attempted to unpack the kitchen supplies. Ashley ended up completely reorganizing the kitchen after they had left, while Chris tried to build the Walmart and Hobby Lobby furniture that she had bought on sale with Jess, Em and Sam. Emily actually surprised Ashley by offering to pay for half of the furniture. Besides the Washington's, Emily was easily the most well off in the group, though Ashley often forgot this. It was incredibly nice of her, especially when she saw the amazing bookshelf she had bought her. The last of the books were actually what was in the last box. "So, what do you think?"

The grin was incredibly wide on Ashley's face. "It looks amazing!" She turned her attention to Chris. "I can't believe this place is ours."

He nodded. "Amazing, huh?"

Ashley could already see herself hosting holiday dinners here with the gang, inviting her family over, letting her sisters cook in the kitchen or play video games with her on the couch, or even see herself pacing around, rocking her's and Chris' baby to sleep every night, reading them stories from the fairy tale book she had from when she was a kid. "Yeah, this is pretty neat." The grin on her face morphed into a smile. "What do you say about inviting the gang over for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"That sounds like it could be fun. You'd have to tell your family why you won't be spending it with them, though." There it goes. That feeling of lightness that had spread through her body had disappeared, sending her crashing back down to the earth. She had to tell her parents. Chris must have noticed the change in her expression. "Are you okay, Ash?"

"I'm going to be sick." It wasn't a lie. She ran to their sink, since it was far closer to her than the bathroom, and threw up in the sink. Chris was right by her side in a moment, though. He held back her hair with his left hand and rubbed her back with his right. He told her, "it'll be okay," and "just let it pass." Once she was done throwing up, she felt infinitely better, though Chris didn't. He looked like he had just been kicked in the gut. "Are _you_ okay, Chris?"

He sighed and looked at the ground in defeat. "This is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Ashley. I should have been more careful. I- I thought the I might have messed up with the condom, you know, but I was just so excited I-"

"Hey," she got up on her toes and gave him a quick peck to get him to shut up, "this is my fault too, you know? It's not like this was a one person thing." She saw Chris let out a sigh, then he took her hand in his. "We have to tell them, huh? Our families?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He closed his hand tighter around Ashley's as he led her to the couch. Their families were aware that they had moved out of their old living situations, but they were vague on the details, saying the reasons they moved out were because of roommate issues, which wasn't completely untrue in Ashley's case. They didn't tell their families that they had moved in together though. "So, who do you want to call first?"

She sighed. She just wanted to avoid this as long as possible. If it were up to her, she'd just hand them the baby next Christmas and say 'surprise!' but it didn't work like that. "It doesn't matter..."

"Let's call my family first, then. They'll probably take it better than your family." Ashley noticed Chris drumming the fingers on his left hand against the end of the couch, a habit he had developed, a tick for when he was nervous. She felt her leg shaking, something that happened when she got nervous. She could feel her heart rate increase as Chris pulled out his phone. Ashley wanted to avoid this at all costs, but she couldn't. She saw him pull up his contacts and press 'Mom.' He put it on speaker, not because Ashley was going to say anything, but just so she could hear. It rang once. Twice. Answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom."

"Oh, hello Christopher! How are you, honey?" Ashley liked Chris' mom. She was a sweet lady who raised a wonderful son.

"Um, I'm good. Officially unpacked the last box."

Ashley could practically hear his mom's smile over the phone. "Oh that's good to hear! Has Ashley come up to see the place yet?"

Chris and Ashley exchanged looks. If the situation were any different, they might laugh. Not today, though. "Um, yeah. She's been over. She's over now, actually."

"Oh, well I don't know what you're doing talking to me when she's over."

"Actually, Mom, I needed to talk to you about something."

"Oh, what is it? You're not failing out of college are you?"

Chris shook his head, though he was aware his mother couldn't see him. Just a habit. "No! No, no, it's uh..." Chris looked at Ashley for reassurance. Ashley took a deep breath and nodded. Chris followed suit. "Mom, Ashley is pregnant."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, before Chris' mom spoke again. "Well, I can't say that's the best news I've heard, but Ashley is a beautiful young woman, very sweet. I'm sure you'll be great parents! So I guess I am going to have my first grandchild?"

Ashley let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Chris' mom sounded almost excited to hear this news. "Um, yeah. Hey, mom, I'm going to have to let you go. Ashley and I need to call her parents."

Chris' mom perked up. "Oh, Ashley was listening in? Hi Ashley!"

Ashley blushed. "Hi, Ms. Hawkins."

"Well, I'll let you go. I know you need to talk to your folks. Christopher, do you want me to call your dad?"

Ashley knew Chris and his father weren't on the best terns. Neither of them really spoke to one another, outside of the occasional text on a birthday or holiday. "No, no I'll, uh, send him a text."

"Oh, alright! I'll talk to you later, son. Ashley, I expect all sorts of sonogram pictures! I want to see my grandchild while they grow!"

Ashley let a smile grow on her face. She loved Chris' mom. "Yes ma'am. I'll make sure you get to see them."

They got off the phone with Chris' mom. Taking a deep breath, Ashley pulled out hers. This probably would not go over as well.

 **Just so you all know, this note doesn't have anything to do with the story, but I'm getting a puppy tomorrow and i am super excited! Her name will probably be Hannah. Three guesses for the reference. ;) Hope you all have a goodnight!**


	9. November 11th

November 11th:

"Ashley, we need to go." Ashley was sitting on the edge of their bed, absentmindedly stroking Louis. She was in a sort of daze, one she had been in and out of for about a week now. She had gone to classes, but had hardly focused to the lectures. She hadn't done any of the work she had ought to have been doing.

The morning sickness had gotten worse. It was like she was always peeing or throwing up, but she didn't focus on that. The words she heard last week rang in her head.

 _"_ _How could you do something so irresponsible."_

 _"_ _I never thought you would be the child to fuck up."_

 _"_ _You're a dirty whore and your bastard child is going to rot in hell with you."_

She cried the entire night.

Chris had been in the room with her, holding her while her mother yelled these things. Even when she wasn't in the room, Ashley's mother could be intimidating, terrifying. He had seen the bruises Ashley had received, but she didn't ever talk about it. He never connected the dots. He remembered her begging to go to the mountain the first year, her mother saying no, but her father allowing her to go anyway, letting her ride up with Chris and Josh. He wished Ashley's dad had picked up the phone instead. He would tell Ashley that everything happened for a reason and he would love her no matter what.

"Ashley, we really need to go or we'll be late."

She stood up off the bed. "Okay." She let out a sigh. Chris felt his heart almost shatter. He wished Ashley's mother would be supportive of them. His own mother was excited to be a grandmother. He wasn't sure if he even wanted their baby to meet Ashley's mom. He had these thoughts running through his mind while he locked up Louis. A tap on his shoulder had him turn around and become face to face with Ashley. "I'm ready."

He brought a weak smile to his lips. "Alright, let's go."

Chris drove. The car ride was silent, besides the radio. Ashley's phone was playing through the speakers, some songs from albums that had never graced the top forty were playing through the speakers. Mostly indie songs. Chris distracted himself by thinking of the songs that played. He hadn't ever heard any of these songs. Ashley was playing off spotify, so she doubted that she had ever heard any of these songs either, but that was part of the fun. He didn't know what to expect with the songs. He didn't know what to expect from being a dad. Even though he knew Ashley felt terrible, he was glad she was with him. There was no one he'd rather go through this with. A pit in his stomach formed. For years he thought Josh would be beside him for things like this. He hadn't fantasized about these events, but it was unspoken that Josh would be there. He wouldn't though. It was hard to think about how quickly his world changed on his head. There were three nights that Chris knew that changed the entire course of his life. He remembered talking about the butterfly effect on the cable car with Sam. Insignificant choices had led him and Ashley here. These choices had led him and Ashley to this parking lot, where he was stopping the car and getting out so he could walk with Ashley to the appointment. Would he and Ashley be doing this, be together, if these insignificant choices never happened?

They waited in the office for an hour and a half. They were surrounded by couples much older than them. Some had their own kids running around: a girl in pigtails and pink dress, a boy learning to walk wearing dinosaur apparel, a baby in a stroller who wouldn't stop crying for anything... This is what their lives were heading to. The women surrounding them were all so much further along that Ashley. One looked like she was going to burst any day now. Once they got in the appointment lasted about an hour. Since it was the first appointment, it lasted the longest. The doctor answered any questions the two of them had. He told them they were due sometime in summer. There was no ultrasound. Ashley acted like she was fine with this, but he noticed the slight look of disappointment she had. She probably wanted to see their baby, though it probably didn't look like much at the moment. Chris knew he needed to do something to help Ashley feel better.

Ashley was in slightly better spirits after the appointment. Everything was going good so far, apparently, and there was low risk for anything being wrong with their baby. She wondered if it was going to be a boy or girl. She always imagined herself with a boy, but every time she pictured Chris, he was always holding a girl. It hardly mattered to her. She would love them no matter what gender. "What are we doing here?"

Chris had pulled into the mall parking lot. There was a look on his face that Ashley could not read. Fear? Excitement? She didn't know. "Stay here. Turn on Criminal Minds or Mr. Robot or something, I'm not sure how long I'll be."

"Um, alright?"

He gave her a quick peck on the lips and a smile. She did as he said and managed to watch an entire episode of the show before he returned. He had a cherry icee in one hand and a soda of some sort in the other. He passed her the icee, and she graced him with a smile. She was suspicious. Getting drinks didn't take an hour. "So, what were you looking at?" She asked once they were back on the road.

"Oh, I wanted to check a price on a gift I wanted to get you for Christmas." It was a bit early for that, wasn't it? She knew Chris had a tendency to get things done early, though, so it was entirely possible that is what he was doing. "Do you want to go to the bookstore? I know you haven't got to go in a while."

She nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice." Again, Ashley was wondering what she had done to luck out getting Chris for a boyfriend. She needed some new reading material. She picked out a John Green novel she hadn't read before, as well as a parenting book one they had got there. Chris went to checkout while she went to the cupcake store that was in the complex with them. Chris liked chocolate cupcakes. She was more of a vanilla girl. She smiled as the cakes were packed away perfectly. Chris was waiting in the car when she got in. He looked jittery, for some reason. "Are you okay?"

"What?" He gave a small laugh. "No, yeah, I'm fine. Everything is fine."

"Okay," she said.

When they got home Ashley made them a quick pan seared fish dinner, as well as a caesar salad. She was glad she didn't feel sick at the moment. The two of them turned on Criminal Minds on Netflix and watched while they ate. They finished dining and Chris went to grab the cupcakes. He wasn't paying attention to the show at all, which was unusual. He was usually telling her to pay attention. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Um, can I do something?"

She nodded, tentatively. "Sure?"

It was then Chris, rather awkwardly, fumbled with pulling something out of his pocket and slid down on one knee. "Ashley, will you-" he dropped the box in his hand "-crap! Sorry, Ash. I mean, will you marry me?"

Was this too fast? Could they do this? Was he only doing this because of the baby? For some reason she felt like this was genuine. She felt like he really wanted to do this, and would have eventually, even with everything that had happened. She smiled. "Yes."

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think, as well as go vote on my poll on my profile page! Thank you so much for reading!**


	10. November 12th

November 12th:

"So, Sam. I need to tell you something." Ashley couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She couldn't help but admire the ring that Chris had picked out. It was beautiful, though inexpensive.

"Go for it." Sam sounded like she was ready to give any advice, if need be. Ashley wasn't sure Sam was going to. "Is everything alright?"

Ashley nodded, though she knew Sam couldn't see her action. "Um, yeah. Everything is great, actually. Um, Chris and I are going to get married." Pause. Ashley had to stop herself from laughing. Sam must have been drinking a diet coke or something because she heard the spit take. Of course she couldn't hold in the laughter. Sam had to calm Ashley down through the phone.

"Ashley! What the hell?"

She blinked a couple of times. This wasn't the reaction she was expected. She didn't judge though. This was a shock. "Sam?" No response. "Sam, are you there?"

"Yeah, yeah. Um, Ashley, aren't you and Chris rushing things a bit?" Sam's words vibrated through the phone. It was a fair question, though. If any of her friends were in this situation, she would tell them to think carefully before getting married. She would tell them to make sure that the guy was actually going to be there for her, not turn into a jerk. She would tell them to make sure the guy actually loves her, and is not just doing this for the sole purpose of a baby, but this was her and Chris.

They had a real, though unconventional love story. She remembered meeting him, sitting next to him as a sophomore in high school in her Vocabulary Development class. There were two different class periods, but with how the class schedules lined up with electives, there were only six people in the class. It was her, Emily, some girl who always smelled like she was smoking too much weed, some senior guy who was taking the class just so he could have enough credits to graduate, an athlete Ashley had recognized as one of Matt's friends from the football team, and Chris. Ashley had naturally navigated towards Emily because she was at least someone she knew, but as the semester went on, she gradually got to know Chris more and more.

Of course she would be a senior in high school before the two of them even admitted their feelings for one another. Before that it was just shy smiles and awkward dodging around the subject, both too blind to notice how much they pined for one another. Looking back, Ashley could see why the gang wanted them to get together so much. They have been officially together for about a year and a half at this point.

She knew the pregnancy wasn't the only reason Ashley had said yes to marrying Chris. She knew, one day, they were going to be together. Maybe it was a secret blessing Josh had left her and Chris with, underneath all the terror. She wasn't sure she was ready to go visit the empty grave where a tombstone symbolically stood, guarding the last good memories of the Washington boy, but Ashley knew she could forgive him. He was ill. She had known that. The death of his sisters had obviously screwed with him more than he led on throughout the year following their death. Ashley knew he had been strangely calm.

A cough took Ashley away form her thoughts. She had zoned out, forgetting she was on the phone with Sam. "Ashley?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Zoned."

She heard Sam let out a sigh, but she could also her the smile behind it. "Anyway," she said, "are you sure you and Chris aren't rushing things?"

She smiled, giving a sideways glance to look over at the other side of the apartment. Chris was in the kitchen, preparing to put a tray of frozen chicken nuggets and french fries in their oven for their dinner. Chris' portion of the chicken nuggets were dinosaur shaped. How is it he was able to be adult enough to propose to her, but be childish enough to demand his chicken nuggets be dinosaur shaped. She was eating chicken nuggets, she admitted, but hers were at least a honey batter that could be arguably adult chicken nuggets. She also knew this was one of this was one of the things she loved about him. Not specifically his love for the dinosaur shapes, but his ability to enjoy what he wanted, no matter the consequences. "Sam, I really don't think we are."

"Well, Jess, Em, and I had a bet going on from years ago, betting who the first people in the gang to get married would be. Jessica bet you. Emily had bet Matt, this was before they were dating, but I knew it was going to be you or Chris. I guess I was right on both accounts." Ashley could feel the blush spreading to her cheeks. Her friends had made bets like that? "Anyway, do you know when your wedding is going to be? Is it going to be before or after you have the baby?"

She and Chris hadn't talked about it, but she knew she wanted the wedding to be before, so she Chris and their baby could all share a last name when they were born. Ashley Hawkins. Ashley Maranda Hawkins. Wow. That was going to be her. Thinking of her name squished with Chris's, she realized she hadn't answered Sam. "Um, we haven't talked about it, but I would probably want to have the wedding before." She didn't really want to be fat for her wedding either, but she had to pick and choose her battles. She couldn't have everything... She bitterly thought back to what her mother had said to her. Ashley knew she wasn't typically one to hold grudges, but if the person had hurt her enough, it was enough to make her lose faith in them. "Sam," her voice came across timid, a whisper, trying to not disturb Chris in the kitchen, who was now tinkering with the blender for some reason. Ashley decided she didn't want to know what he was up to. "Um, I need a Maid of Honor, I think. Would you like to be mine?"

She could almost see the smile on Sam's face as she heard her best girl friend squeal yes. She didn't know Sam squealed. "That's a new noise," she commented.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Come on, I may be a guy at heart, but it actually means a lot to me that you would ask me that. I know Jessica and Emily both probably wanted to be Maid of Honor." It was probably true. Jessica had been dropping hints since they were in fifth grade playing MASH, back when they both decided they would marry Matt if no one came along, back when being twenty seemed like a lifetime away.

Ashley decided she didn't care, though. She would still ask them to be bridesmaids. Her and Emily had sort have reconciled after the events on the mountain, both agreeing neither of the were in the right state of mind, Emily realizing that if she were in Ashley's place she might have taken the gun herself. The reconciliation hadn't happened over-night -it actually spanned several months- but they both realized the other was just scared. Ashley and Emily had come to the understanding that this was a one time thing, and if it should ever happen again then they would both have faith in one another. She knew she needed to call Jessica and Emily, tell them about her and Chris's proposal, as well as ask them to be her bridesmaids. "Hey, Sam, I'll call you later, alright?" CLANK.

"What was that?"

Ashley had no idea, but it came from the kitchen. "No idea. I'll call you later."

Ashley put down her phone and went to where Chris was standing, with what appeared to be chocolate ice cream all over his face. "What on earth did you do?"

Chris gave a sheepish shrug. "Um, I was going to make some milkshakes to have with our chicken nuggets."

Ashley rolled her eyes and smiled. "Thank you for the thought. It was very sweet," she gave him her most angelic smile, "but clean it up. I need to call Jessica and Emily." She got up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on his lips, her tongue peeking out so she could lick some of the ice cream off. She scooped up Louis in her arms, knowing that, given the chance, he would totally eat the ice cream that had been spilt all over the floor. She didn't miss the playful glare Chris was giving her from the kitchen. She felt bad for abandoning him with the mess, even though he caused it, so picked up her phone and called Jessica while she was soaking a wash cloth.

"Hello?" Jessica sounded confused, like she had just woken up from a nap. It wouldn't be surprising. The girl took whatever opportunity she could to get in a few extra minutes of sleep.

"Hey Jess. Are you busy?"

Sigh. "Not anymore. What's up?"

"Chris and I are getting married." Silence.

Three. Two. One. She could practically see the timer counting down in her head for the reaction. "WHAT?"

Ashley went on to explain how she and Chris had gone to the doctors, then the bookstore and Chris's awkwardly adorable Netflix and cupcake proposal in their living room. Thinking back, she liked how he knew she would like being proposed to in private, without pressure from the outside, without everyone looking. No pressure to say yes, even though there was really no doubt she would. Ashley focused on wiping down the counter while Jessica asked questions. She eventually just put the phone on speaker so Chris could heard their excited friend's babbling. "Chris? Did you even plan to ask her in advance, or was it like a spur of the moment kind of thing?"

Ashley gave Chris a sly smile. She didn't know the answer to this. She was curious. The tip's of Chris's ears went red and a blush spread on his face. Ashley thought it was cute that he would blush, even though it was only the two of them in the room. She honestly didn't care what his answer was. At least they were together. That didn't mean it wasn't fun to watch Chris squirm a little. "Um, I mean, I guess after our first year dating I knew I wanted to marry her. Like, she was different than any girl I met, no offense, Jess-"

"None taken."

"-but, I don't know. Ashley was having a rough day and I wanted to make it better."

Ashley could hear Jess squealing into her pillow. She was a sucker for romance. "That is so sweet of you Chris. Ashley is a total catch, but you are too. You two will be great together, I just know it!"

"Jessica, do you want to be one of my bridesmaids?"

"Uh, did you eat a brain tumor for breakfast? You don't even have to ask! Duh!" Ashley smiled. Two down, one to go. "Any idea on when the wedding is?"

Ashley glanced at Chris, who shrugged back at her. "We'll get back to you on that," Chris said, taking a moment to glance at Ashley's belly, though there was no sign that she was pregnant yet. "You can probably assume it'll be sooner rather than later."

She could hear Jessica's devilish smirk. "Well, you're lucky I have my Big Bad Bridal Binder I made with Emily back in high school. It hold up surprisingly well."

Ashley smiled. "That'll be great! Just don't tell Emily yet. I was going to call her as soon as I got off the phone with you."

"Well, then I guess I'll have to let you go! Planning for a wedding, then immediately turning around and planning for your baby. Aunt Jessica is going to spoil the hell out of her."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "It could be a boy, you know."

"Emily and I have a bet going. She's betting boy. I'm betting girl. Either way, I'm going to love them to death."

"Alright. We'll talk to you later, Jess."

"Bye!"

Ashley pressed end call and looked up at Chris, smiling at her like she was a queen or something. It was like he couldn't help himself, and he pressed his lips to her. He was still a bit sticky from the shake fiasco. Ashley kissed him back, happily accepting his advances. Chris lifter her up and placed her on the newly cleaned counter, covering her in kisses. "What," kiss, "are," kiss, kiss, "you doing?" kiss, kiss, kiss.

"I can't," kiss, "just kiss," kiss, kiss, kiss, "fiancé?" kiss, kiss.

She pushed him back. It was sudden, like getting hit with a train. A wave of happiness hit her. "Oh my gosh," she whispered. "We're actually engaged."

He had a smile on his face like he was the happiest man in the world. He started kissing her, working his way underneath Ashley's shirt, working on unclasping her bra, which had been feeling rather snug. Maybe she needed to go out and buy a new pair, or wear a sports bra until she could go out. Chris fumbled with it under her shirt, so she guided his hands with her. She smiled and moaned lightly as he flicked her nipples. Just as they were about to get busy, though, a timer went off. Chris looked mildly annoyed. "Dammit."

Ashley smirked. "Dinosaur nuggets?"

Chris nodded and walked over to the over, where he pulled out the try with their dinner. Het gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Go and call Emily. I'll get you a plate."

She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek in return. "I'm the luckiest girl, you know that?"

He smirked. "Yeah, well, you do get all of this. Who wouldn't be jealous?" He was making wild hand gestures about himself.

Ashley rolled her eyes, grabbed her phone, and sat on the couch. She pulled up Emily's contact and called the girl. "Jessica said you were going to call me." Single ring. Like she was waiting for a call.

"Oh, uh, yeah." She took a breath and just let it out at once. This got easier and easier the more she said it out loud. She was excited to tell the guys. "Chris and I are getting married!"

"Congratulations."

She smiled. "Thank you." Pause. "I was wondering if you wanted to be one of my bridesmaids?"

She could hear Emily smiling in her voice. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Jessica said she was going to get with you to plan some things? I mean, it's not going to be overly extravagant, and we don't even have a date yet-"

"Please," Emily cut her off. "Your wedding will be on Christmas. You've wanted that for years, you just never said anything. You were dropping hints like crazy, though. Is Chris there?"

She looked at the kitchen. Chris was squirting ketchup onto their plates. She could see the two plates and two water bottles that were laid out. Ashley got up off the couch. "I'll get him." She pulled the phone away from her face. "Chris, Em wants to talk to you."

Chris nodded. He took the phone and started munching on one of his t-rex. He was nodding, saying yes, and occasionally looking Ashley over with a smile on his face. The conversation took about three minutes. When he was finished he hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" Ashley asked as she took one of slightly more adult chicken nuggets.

"Can't tell you." He was smirking.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "I guess we won't finish what we started in the kitchen in our bedroom."

Chris's turn to roll his eyes. "Emily would kill me if I told you. Just trust me, alright?"

She nodded. "With my life." It was true, too. He had chosen to save her twice back on the mountain, once of Josh, once over himself. Those moments were still some of the most fear filled moments of her life, but she had Chris at least, and that had given her hope. "I love you."

He smiled. "I love you too," he said. "I cannot wait for you to be my wife." He placed one hand on her face and kissed her, a deep, romantic passionate kiss, much like the one they shared on Blackwood, but Ashley noticed his hand creeping up to her still flat belly and resting there.

 **So a longer chapter today! I'm trying to increase the length of each chapter of my story, but with my update schedule for all my stories, it is often easier for me to produce shorter chapters. I'm hoping this is something I can improve on for this story and other stories! I hope you all liked the chapter! There wasn't too much fluff, though there was a bit of mild smut. Let me know what you all thought!**


	11. November 24th

**I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and to my fellow Americans, have a happy early Independence Day! I couldn't write a chapter to celebrate the 4th of July, so I wrote about another American holiday instead!**

November 24th:

"Chris, everyone is going to be here soon!" Chris looked at Ashley as she rummaged around the apartment. She was looking for a decent serving dish for the mashed potatoes. Happy Thanksgiving! Chris had been straightening up their apartment while Ashley worked on the meal. She was a pro at preparing Thanksgiving when she was with her family, she had grown up helping prepare dinner in her grandmother's kitchen, but she had never done it on her own. She was stressed out was an understatement. She had decided to skip the ham this year, partly because she didn't like ham, but also because she didn't have the oven space. She decided sticking with turkey would be best. She had made all sorts of pies yesterday: chocolate, pecan, pumpkin and coconut. She had been waiting for Thanksgiving since they moved in.

While Chris was happy to see his fiancé so excited about a holiday, he was also incredibly stressed out. Ashley was making herself sick from all the running around she was doing. She had been cooking for two days straight, and when she wasn't cooking she was deep cleaning the apartment. Chris told her he would clean, but Ashley told him to not worry about it and just focus on his classwork. It was like his sole job around the house was to do things for school. Ashley had told him it was because, no matter what else happened, he was going to graduate, Cum Laude, like he had planned, or at least Magna Cum Laude. Because of this insistence to do everything herself, the straightening up Chris was doing was literally that. He was rearranging the pillows on the couch for the seventh time. It kind of hurt that she didn't trust him with any of the Thanksgiving preparations. "Ashley," he walked over to the kitchen but didn't dare go in because he had already been yelled at for taking up space, "are you sure you don't need me to help with anything?"

She looked around, hanging her head in a sort of defeat. "Can you go set the table?"

Chris nodded. He could most certainly do that. He walked by Ashley and grabbed plates and silverware, making sure to get seven of everything. He was excited to have everyone over. The gang had been coming as often as they could, the girls coming over to help Ashley with wedding planning, because Jessica insisted they didn't need a wedding planner -she was becoming certified to become a wedding planner apparently,- and the guys came over to hang out, occasionally talk about the wedding, but mostly to just relax like the old days. Sometimes it was easy to forget everything that happened last year (had it really been over a year?) but there was also a nagging in the back of his mind, telling him that Josh wasn't here. Josh would never be here. He was somewhere on Blackwood. He had to push those thoughts away. He had a new life now. He and Ashley were going to get married. They were going to have their own family.

Chris stepped out of his thoughts as he finished setting the table. He let himself be impressed. He did a pretty damn good job. "Ashley," he walked over to her, "do you need help with anything else?" The image he got was her vomiting into the sink. He felt terrible for her. This was Thanksgiving, a holiday about food and eating, and she wasn't sure if she'd even be able to get anything down. He walked behind her and rubbed small circles into her back. "Hey, nugget," he tried to lighten the situation, "give your mom a break today, huh?"

He smiled as Ashley turned towards him after throwing up whatever she had in her stomach. "Did you just call our baby a nugget?"

Chris smiled, puckering his lips and crossing his arms, creating one of his signature goofy faces. "Yeah. What if I did?"

Ashley hit his arm. "You are such a dork!" She turned her attention to the food around her. "Can you take the food to the table? I'll start getting everyone drinks."

Chris did as he was told, taking the turkey to the table. Ashley had started pouring wine into glasses, not really caring that Matt and Jess were both technically under the drinking age. They had bought Two bottles of red wine, but they really had no idea what they were getting. It was an inexpensive grocery store Pinto Noir. Ashley had gotten herself sparkling grape juice to drink so she could at least pretend she was having something fancy.

Their table setting was perfect timing. Chris had just finished placing the last plate on the table when there was a knock on the door. Ashley went to answer it. Chris thought to himself how great she looked. She was still able to fit into her skinny jeans, which she complimented with a cream colored sweater and brown knee high boots. In front of the door stood Matt, awkwardly holding an bouquet of orange flowers. "I assumed I should bring something, but I didn't know what, so I just got these for you, Ash."

She loved them. Chris could tell by the way her face lit up. Ashley had all sorts of plants throughout the apartment: hanging cacti, potted orchids, a small herb garden in the kitchen. Chris knew she would display the flowers very prominently.

Everyone trickled in after that. Jess and Mike arriving together, Sam and Emily arriving separately, but getting to the door at the same time. Everyone commented on how good it all smelled, and how everything would be different next year. They dug into the food, everyone taking generous helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans. Ashley had even given Louis his own plate of food, though she only put turkey on it. Good spirits were all over the place. Chris knew that none of them were related by blood, but they were still a family. The Washington's had brought them together. Josh, Hannah and Beth. It seemed wrong that they weren't here, so Chris raised his glass in a toast, giving thanks to their friends who were unable to be with them. It was because of them that this was possible. He knew, somehow, it was of them that he and Ashley got to live this life together.

 **Again, Happy 4th!**


	12. December 3rd

December 3rd:

"Ashley, can we talk?" Ashley was sitting at the desk in their bedroom, a text book open on the left, an Agatha Christie novel placed open, face down, on the right, a binder full of wedding planning details open right in front of her. She quickly closed the binder when she heard his voice. She'd been trying to keep as much of the wedding secret as possible because 'why should the dress be the only surprise?' Which was code for Ashley wasn't allowed to tell or face the wrath of Jessica.

She looked up at Chris, giving him a smile. "Sure! What is it?"

"I was thinking, you know we have to name this kid, so I was thinking of names, and what if we named him or her after Josh, Hannah or Beth?" He was tentative asking this. He was sure Ashley was thinking of names herself, and the last day any of them spent with Josh wasn't exactly his brightest moments, and the image of Hannah as a wendigo was imprinted into their minds forever. Ashley would still wake up in the middle of the night, plagued with nightmares. He would rub circles in her back, letting her cry out the memories. Ever since she's gotten pregnant, the crying became plagued with sickness as well. Ashley would comfort him too, preparing hot packs whenever his knee would start acting up, kissing him and preparing him his favorite meals whenever he would become hurt with memories. They would comfort one another in the night. Chris wanted to name their child after his best friend, or maybe his sisters, because he wouldn't be with this beautiful girl if it weren't for him.

Chris was surprised when Ashley didn't immediately say no. Instead, a worried look spread across her face. "Should we ask Bob and Melinda before we do that?" This surprised Chris. "I love the idea. Josh was my friend, too. Yeah, he screwed up, but he was depressed and off his meds. We weren't as close as the two of you were, but he and I did hang out without you a couple of times." She paused. "Chris, if I tell you something, like something really fucking sappy, will you laugh at me?"

Chris shook his head. "Of course not!"

Ashley took a deep breath, equal parts joy and sadness spreading across her face. "Before any of this happened, back when we were in high school and I was this dorky junior and you were this senior I looked up to, completely unobtainable, I would daydream about the two of us. I would imagine what our wedding would be like, what our children would look like, what sing we would dance to at our wedding... I know... really sappy, but I always pictured Josh there, in the background. He was your best friend, but he was also one of the people I was closest too. He was your Best Man. He was throwing you this wild bachelors party with strippers and the whole shebang, and he would be there when we had kids, and we would ask him to be the godfather. He would be crazy Uncle Josh, until he had kids of his own, at least. Some reason, I aways pictured him with Sam in my imagination. I know, it sounds so stupid, but I had some part of myself convinced this was going to be the future I, we, had." She couldn't help the tears spilling out of her eyes. She couldn't help the smile that was on her face. "He would like this, wouldn't he?"

Chris nodded. "I think so." He wasn't going to admit it to Ashley now, but he had pictured a similar future. "Ashley, I know this is a lot different than we imagined, but you and I are together. We are getting married, starting a family, no matter how unexpected it is. Yeah, there's going to be bumps on the way, but it's you and me versus the world in the end." He took a breath. "Let's call Bob and Melinda, ask them if we can name our baby after their children."

Bob and Melinda were able to meet for coffee that afternoon. Melinda was the one who answered when Chris called. She was ecstatic to hear from him. Chris was almost like a second son to her. Melinda was like a second mom to him. He saw how stressed out Ashley looked when she tried to dress to impress the Washington's. She always felt like she had to dress up to see the millionaires. He smiled when he saw what Ashley chose, leggings, a pair of brown knee high boots, and a sweater her bump was visible through, though it was only visible if one knew that she was pregnant. Chris saw how nervous Ashley was as she ordered her drink, peppermint hot chocolate. Admittedly, he was nervous too. They were going to tell the Washington's they were invited to their wedding, before revealing that he and Ashley were expecting.

Bob and Melinda were polar opposites, yet exactly the same. Melinda had a presence that couldn't be ignored, which is why everyone in the coffee shop's attention turned to her when she entered. She wasn't dressed extravagantly, but her energy was pulsing through the room. Bob was dressed up for the coffee shop. The attention he was attracting was different than Melinda's. It was subtle. Everyone could look at him and know he was important. They both gave the biggest smiles that they had probably had since Hannah and Beth died. Melinda gave Chris and Ashley each a hug, Bob giving each of them a warm handshake. Chris didn't know why he was nervous. "So Chris," Bob started, cutting to business, "what is you you wanted to tell us."

Chris took a deep breath, his heart beating a million an hour in his chest. As a comfort, Ashley squeezed his hand under the table. He could do this. "Well, um, we wanted to invite you to our wedding."

A look of confusion spread across their faces, before questioning, then happiness. "Oh congratulations you two!" Melinda was full of joy. Hannah and Josh took after her.

"Aren't you two a bit young to be getting married?" Beth took after Bob. Much more practical.

Chris and Ashley exchanged a look once again, before Chris spoke. "Well, we would have waited a few more years, but," breath, "Ashley is pregnant."

A similar range of emotions spread across the faces of the Washington's faces, before they finally settled on joyful. "Well, I know you two will be great parents. You were so supportive to Josh growing up and after everything. It means a lot that you would want to tell us." Melinda looked genuinely moved.

Ashley spoke up. "We were wondering if we could name it after Josh, or Hannah and Beth, depending on the gender.

This was when Melinda broke out into tears. She was nodding yes, the biggest smile on her face. Bob was rubbing her shoulder. That's it. Their baby would be named after the Washington's.

 **I've been looking forward to writing this chapter! I was so excited to get it out! I hope you all enjoyed it!**


	13. December 9th Part One

**Big news! I'm changing my update** **schedule** **for this story. Now, instead of Saturday, this story will be updated Monday and Wednesday!**

December 9th:

Ashley wasn't sure what had come over her when she started packing her overnight bag with changes of clothes, toiletries and the couple of books within reaching distance. She wasn't sure what came over her when she gave Louis a small, loving pat, goodbye. She didn't know why she gave Chris a loving look as he laid in bed, completely passed out. She smiled as she looked at him. She knew she was completely in love with him. That didn't stop her from getting in her car and driving away, though.

Chris woke up the next morning, turning over so he could look at Ashley's face, beautiful even without makeup, with her hair spilling everywhere, if she didn't put it up in a bun before she went to bed. There was a look of confusion that crossed his face when she wasn't there. "Ash?"

He looked around, not quite worried. It was possible she had woken up before him. "Ashley?" He rose up out of the bed and started walking around the apartment, looking for the girl he was going to marry, the girl who was going to be the mother to his child. He exited their bedroom, looking around for any sight of the girl. Seeing there was none, he walked over to their bathroom. "Ash?" It was clear. The toothbrush and toothpaste, the shampoo and conditioner, the two different body washes and face washes... Immediately Chris started to panic. Where did she go? Did he do something wrong? Was she breaking up with him?

He had to tell himself to calm down, that there was an explanation for this. She wouldn't have gone away for no reason, would she? She would tell him if she was getting cold feet, or anything. She probably went to Sam's place. Yeah, that's it. She went to Sam's and he just didn't realize she had gone. He grabbed his phone from its spot on the nightstand and scrolled to Ashley's contact. He pressed call. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four. Five. Six. No answer. It went to the voice mail she had created as a junior in high school. He typed out a text asking where she was and to call him.

His next step was to call Sam. He scrolled through his contacts until he found her number and called her. She answered after two rings. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sam, is Ashley there?"

He could hear the confusion in Sam's voice. "No. Is everything alright?"

He shook his head, not sure how to answer. "I'm not sure. I'll get back to you on that. If you see her will you call me?"

He could practically see Sam nodding her head. "Yeah, of course."

He hung up the phone and repeated the process with Matt, then Jessica, then Mike, and finally Emily. None of them had seen her.

He let out a breath. "Alright. Alright, if I was Ashley, where would I go? Where... would... I... Bookstore?" It wasn't impossible. Ashley enjoyed reading and he knew she wanted their wedding to be book themed to some extent, though, to be honest, he wasn't sure how that was really going. He didn't care about the wedding planning, or really how the wedding turned out, as long as he was married to Ashley in the end. He felt his heart beating a million an hour in his chest. Did she still want to marry him?

He went everywhere he could think of Ashely would be. He went to the house of some of the girls in her classes, as well as a coffee shop, a pet store, the Center for the Art on campus where she was known to read in the lobby while waiting for plays to start... everywhere. He was constantly checking his phone, seeing if she sent him a text back. No luck. The others were on the look out for Ashley as well.

He was on his way to check Ashley's favorite restaurants when his phone went off. When he read the name he expected it to be one of his friends giving him an update on the search. He was not expecting it to be Ashley. Immediately he answered. "Ashley?"

"Chris?"

He let out a breath of relief. "Ashley. It's so good to hear your voice. Where are you?"

He could hear her shaking. "I'm in the hospital."

His blood turned to lead as he heard her say those words. "What?"

"Yeah, I'm in San Antonio." That was two hours away. What was she doing there? "I'm in the hospital. Can... can you come here? Please?"

"Of course, Ash." He hung up the phone and hopped in his car, driving to get her from the hospital, calling everyone on the way.

"Is she okay?" Sam had asked, concern laced in her voice.

"Poor Ash..." Matt was lost in his thoughts, voice trailing away.

"Do you need us to meet you there?" Jessica was ready to get everyone together, ready to have shoulders to cry on at the ready.

"Keep... keep me posted man." Mike was obviously worried, but couldn't come because of his finals.

"Another one? Shit, Ash." Emily was thinking back on the other car accidents Ashley had had... which was too many admittedly.

He promised to keep everyone updated. He knew they all had different variations of the same question circulating through their brain. What happened? Was Ashley _really_ okay? Why did she run off? Was the baby okay?

The rest of the car ride was Chris on and off the phone with Ashley. He asked what happened, but she burst into tears and started crying. He changed the subject and didn't ask her any real questions, like where she went or anything. He didn't let himself think about the baby. He just prayed everything was alright.

He reached the hospital and found Ashley's room relatively quickly. She looked fine, save a few minor bruises. Upon seeing him she burst into tears again, apologizing over and over. He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Hey, hey. Don't worry. Shh... shh..."

There was knock on the door. "Miss McCarter?" A doctor walked in, a clipboard in his hands. He looked over Chris. "Are you here to see Miss McCarter?"

He nodded and held out his hand for a handshake. "I'm her fiancé, Christopher Hawkins."

The doctor shook his hand. "I'm doctor Baker. I think the two of you should sit down. We have some things to go over."


	14. December 9th Part Two

December 9th- Part Two:

Ashley did as she was told, sitting down on the edge of the hospital bed. She felt her leg shaking with nerves. She tried to stop it, put her hands on top of it, but that didn't work, so she gave into the nerves and moved closer to Chris instead. She tried to read the expression on the doctor's face. He didn't look particularly grim. That's a good sign, right? She gave Chris a small look from the corner of her eye, seeking comfort from him. She noticed him glancing back, fear in his eyes, but something else as well. Confusion? Dread? She moved her eyes back to the doctor, who was looking at his clipboard.

"You're lucky, Miss McCarter. It seems your baby is just fine. You're doctor at home will want to keep a close eye on you, because you're at more of a risk for a premature delivery, but from what I can see, you're baby is perfectly fine. You have a minor concussion, so I recommend you don't drive for a week or so, but I doubt you'll be driving anyway." The doctor finished up with Chris and Ashley, explaining to the the specifics they should look out for throughout the remainder of Ashley's pregnancy, as well as giving them his card before seeing them out. Ashley didn't need to stay hospitalized, luckily.

Chris escorted Ashley to his car, hand protectively around her shoulder. He walked at her pace, considering she was dizzy and shaking from the shock of everything, followed by the dehydration the crying caused. "Want to stop and get a drink?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Can we go to the tow company and get some things out of my car?"

Chris looked over Ashley. She really needed to have something in her system, even if it was just a small drink. "Okay," he said, "if you promise me we can go get a drink or pick up dinner."

She gave in. "Yeah." The car ride was without words for a while. Spotify played their favorite indie playlist while they they sat in the car. It was sudden, though unsurprising when Ashley broke into tears. "Chris, I'm sorry!"

He would admit to himself he was annoyed with her for leaving him without any warning, but she needed his support, not his criticism right now. "Hey, it's alright. Anyone can get into an accident."

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry for leaving this morning. I- I realized how close our wedding was, and I was up all night, and I realized I didn't have a dress, or bridesmaids dresses or anything, so I wanted to get myself a dress. I picked out a few, and a few bridesmaids dresses, and I was going to ask the girls to come back to San Antonio with me over the weekend and make a final choice, but... I mean..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Chris."

He sighed. "Why didn't you answer your phone?" He called her, and he knew the others much have been calling her as well.

"I- I didn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted to think about everything alone. Who knows when the next time I'll get to be alone is."

Chris felt something shoot through his heart. Alone. "Alone? Ash..." he paused, thinking his words over carefully. "Do you still want to get married?"

She nodded frantically. "Oh, my gosh, Chris. I didn't mean it like that. I meant with the baby, I didn't know when I'd get to have a me day. I didn't mean I wanted to be away form you." Chris's somber expression didn't change. "Chris, I love you, alright?"

He didn't respond. He just absorbed the song. Stranger Still, the Daniel T remix, by Vetiver was playing on the playlist. A bass line that seemed too... peppy for the situation played. Still he didn't skip it. He just let his thoughts wander. He knew he'd forgive Ashley, but this opened a whole bunch of insecurities he had. He noticed the shift Ashley had when he didn't respond. She let herself get absorbed into her seat. What sounded like lasers started shooting in the background of the song reminding Chris of a retro video game.

Josh had a retro gaming system that was from the late 80's early 90's. They played all sorts of cool games on it. Chris hadn't thought about them playing in years. Every time the two of them would get in a fight when they were younger Josh would call Chris up and invite him to play old video games. They would get over whatever they were pissed about and just lose themselves in the game. He knew what he needed to do.

"Ashley," he said after several minutes of uncomfortable silence. "I love you too."

They got to the tow company and Ashley opened the back of her car, revealing an orange roll up pad that was good for laying outside on, or enjoying picnics with, as well as a teal toolbox. She moved them into the back of Chris's car. He was ready to drive off when Ashley went to open the back seat door of her car, pulling out a shopping bag. She passed him the bag with a small smile on her face. "I saw this and thought you might enjoy it." He opened it and pulled out a gray t-shirt. On the shirt a bear was depicted with the word Papa written inside it. Chris couldn't help but smile. "So, am I forgiven?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Ash, you know I had already forgiven you."

They drove out of the tow lot, Ashley giving a longing look at her car -it would be about a month before it was completely fixed- as they drove off, stopping at a fast food place as they started the two hour drive home, Chris getting a burger, large fry and drink, Ashley getting an order of chicken and medium fry and drink, though she was full before she finished her meal. They had to stop once so Ashley could throw up, neither of them knowing what the cause was, the baby or the concussion, but they eventually made it home safe and sound. They fell asleep in one another's arms and were quite content after the day they had. Chris thought about the Papa Bear shirt he was going to wear the next day.


	15. December 18th

December 18th:

"Ashley, you look so pretty!" Ashley was in a giant dressing room, showing off the fifth or sixth wedding gown so far. Sitting in the room with her were Sam, Jessica and Emily. The one who had spoken was Jessica.

"Really? You think so?" Ashley turned around, looking at the wedding dress in the mirror and sighed. "I think I liked the last one better." She didn't like the way the dress hugged all her curves, emphasizing places she might not necessarily want hi-lighted.

She saw Sam and Emily studying the dress. Jessica had told her she looked beautiful in every dress, possibly because Jessica had picked out every dress, which, to be fair, were all beautiful and looked really good on Ashley. The problem with most of the dresses were Ashley's own insecurities. The didn't have a lot of time to look and make decisions with the wedding only being a week away, but Ashley had wanted to put dress shopping off as long as possible so the dress would fit her belly. Sam finally spoke up. "Ashley, most of these dresses have looked really good on you. You could wear any of them and blow Chris away."

Ashley nodded. "Um, okay." She turned her attention to Emily. She counted on her to be the most honest. "Which one did you like the best?"

Emily crossed her arms. "Well, the one I liked the best and the one I think is the best for you are two completely different ones. I like the one you are wearing the best, but I think you looked the most, I don't know, you, in the last one." The dress Emily was referring to was a ball gown style dress with a sweetheart neckline. It was ivory in color and made Ashley feel like everything was real. Ashley had loved it the moment she put it on, but insisted she try on every dress before she made a decision.

Ashley nodded at Emily. "I think that's my favorite dress."

Jessica clapped her hands. "Yes! I saw it and immediately thought you would love it."

Ashley gave a small smile. "I can't believe this is happening, guys."

The girls gave varying reactions, a nod, a smirk, and a laugh, from Emily, Sam and Jess in turn. "Can I be honest?" Sam asked.

Ashley nodded. "Of course."

"I didn't think this would ever come simply because you are you, and Chris is, well, Chris. You two were just so shy around one another. It was obvious you two had feelings for each other, but both of you would skirt around all of your thoughts." She paused. "I don't want to bring up _that_ night, but something good came out of it."

Everyone was frozen in the room. No one said anything, just giving each other looks with blinking eyes. Eventually Sam broke the silence. "I'm sorry guys, I just-"

Ashley shook her head. "No- no. It's fine." She gave the girls a shy and mischievous look. "Chris and I went to talk to Bob and Melinda. Long story short, we're naming our baby after Josh, Hannah or Beth."

The girls looked at one another before Emily spoke up. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean Josh almost killed us, and Hannah went off the fucking deep end." She looked at Ashley. "I understand naming it after Beth, but Hannah and Josh? I don't know."

Ashley shrugged. "I mean, we never really got closure, with any of them. None of this was their fault anyway." Ashley guiltily thought back to that prank that started this all. "Sam," Ashley started changing the subject, "can you help me into that other dress?"

Sam got up from her spot and went to the changing area of the dressing room. Before Ashley could even ask her to help her unzip the dress, Sam pulled her in for a hug. They didn't need words, not really. The words were unspoken. She knew Sam understood why she and Chris decided to name their baby after the Washington's. She knew the longing in their hearts. She knew Chris had lost his best friend, and Ashley had lost a really good friend. Ashley and Josh were as close as Sam and Josh, though they were close in different ways. Sam sighed. Ashley did the same. Sam undid the zipper revealing Ashely's topless self. Sam averted her eyes, for Ashley's sake. She knew how shy the girl was. She helped Ashley step back into the lace ball-gown and zip her back in. Sam gave Ashley a once over before she stepped out. "You look beautiful, Ash."

Ashley smiled. "Thank you." She stepped back to where Emily and Jessica sat waiting. They appeared to have been in a small argument over something, but they stopped once they saw Ashley. She had a new sense of confidence on her face. Jessica and Emily could tell, as both their faces changed into approving nods.

"That's definitely the one. I don't know why I didn't see that before." Jessica was completely taken with Ashley's appearance.

Even Emily was in a starstruck sense of awe. "Well, Ash, you really do look like you were made for that dress."

Ashley smiled. "Awesome." She looked at the girls sitting there. "Well, who wants to go look at Bridesmaids dresses?"

Ashley wanted to find her dress before the others got theirs, not because she wanted to feel more important, but because she wanted to make sure they didn't clash with hers. The wedding colors were light blue and silver, so Ashley would let the girls agree on a dress that would be one of those colors. Personally, Ashley hoped they could agree on a light blue dress. Her prayers were answered when Jessica showed up with a long light blue dress with a white lace overlay and light blue cap sleeves. She knew with the shape all her bridesmaids kept in, they would all look great. She had them try the dresses on anyway, a size five for Jess, a size five for Emily and a size two for Sam. They were all beautiful. Suddenly, Ashley couldn't wait for next week. It couldn't come soon enough. Everything was becoming real. In a week she would be Ashley Hawkins.

 **Thank you all so much for all the feedback! It really makes my day and keeps me going. I read all of it and get so excited every time I see a new review. Thank you all so much! I hope you all enjoyed.**


	16. December 20th

December 20th:

Chris woke up feeling very warm, the good kind of warm. It was the kind of warm that filled him with giddy joy. He had the greatest dream the night before. He and Ashley were sitting in the nursery cradling their baby back and forth. Ashley was singing a lullaby with her sweet soprano, filling the air with sweet notes that lulled their baby to sleep. In his dream the baby filled genders. First it was a baby girl wrapped in a light pink blanket, a big bow on her head. The baby then morphed into a boy, the blanket was brown and a much too large baseball cap that belonged to Ashley perched his head. Getting to wake up and know his dream could become a reality soon was amazing. Getting to wake up and see the beautiful girl fast asleep next to him was amazing. He let her sleep as he carefully stepped out of the bed. She stirred lightly. He pulled on one of his long sleeved shirts as well as a pair of sweatpants, before putting on a pair of boots and a jacket, grabbing the leash so he could take Louis on a walk.

It snowed that night. Chris wasn't a huge fan of snow. He didn't like the cold, wet feeling it gave him, but he knew Ashley liked it. He knew she would be happy to see the white powder when she woke up. "How cool would it be if it snowed on our wedding?" he asked quietly to Louis, though he knew the question was more to himself. He pulled out his phone and checked the weather on Christmas Day. No forecast. He prayed silently that would change before continuing on the walk.

By the time he got back to the apartment Ashley was awake. She was wearing her tye-dye "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirt that was covered in paint and hair dye, as well as a pair of green plaid pajama pants. Her hair was in a bun on top of her head and her glasses were perched on her face, which was devoid of any makeup. She was sitting on the couch in their living room, playstation on, watching Criminal Minds on Netflix. When Chris opened the door the biggest smile lit up her face. "Guess what," she said as she walked over to him.

"What?" He couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"We get married in less than a week." She gave him a peck on his lips as she spoke. He and Ashley were not overly affectionate in public, but here, in the privacy of their own home, they would use all sorts of gestures, minuscule and grandiose, to prove their love.

Chris picked Ashley up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist. "Yeah, we are." He gave her a kiss, landing right between her breasts. "I had the best dream last night."

Ashley hopped down off of him, giving him a curious look. "What happened?"

Chris led her to the couch and sat down, positioning the girl he was in love with in his lap. "I had a dream that we were a family. You were rocking Hannah or Beth to sleep, singing to her. She turned into Josh and you were still singing. It was nice and it felt weird to know that this will be real soon."

Ashley smiled. "You're such a sap." She started rubbing her belly. The baby bump had yet to start to show, something that made Ashley happy, secretly, wanting to look as small as possible for her wedding pictures. She was excited for the baby bump to come though. She was excited to put headphones on her bump and play music. She was excited to rub it and daydream about the life inside. Hell, she was excited to see how many different kinds of meals she would be able to balance on it. "Chris," she started, "do you want a boy or a girl?"

She could see the light in Chris' eyes. He had obviously been thinking on this. "I'd be fine with either, to be honest," he started saying, "but I want a girl."

Ashley smiled. "Ah, you're on Team Jessica, then?"

Chris nodded. "I guess so. What about you? Boy or girl?"

Ashley shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it. A girl might be nice, but I think I'd prefer a boy." She had images of Chris and their son playing video games in the living room, or being huge dorks together.

Chris smiled. "Well, why don't we make a bet?"

Ashley looked intrigued. "Bet?"

"Like, if it's a girl then I get to..." Chris thought about it, "you have to let me kiss you."

Ashley crossed her arms and smiled. "So if it's a boy?"

His smile widened. "If it's a boy then you have the pleasure of letting me kiss you."

Ashley rolled her eyes, but smiled. "So you kiss me either way?"

He nodded. "What, not a good enough bet?"

She shook her head. "No, it's perfect." Ashley sighed as she though about how amazing Chris was to her. "Chris," she said, "I really don't deserve you."

Ashley thought back to the moments that led them here, to where they were. She thought about their first meeting, where she was the girl sitting in the back of the Vocabulary Development class, Harry Potter book open. Chris had leaned over and asked what book she was reading. They sparked a long conversation that led him to asking her to come to lunch with him and his friend Josh just a few weeks later. She thought of the friendship she developed with Josh and the rest of the gang. She looked at the first time she was invited to the annual winter getaway, and how she had to promise her parents she would be responsible. There were the moments where she and Chris were so close to admitting their feelings, but never doing so. There was the time everyone had too much to drink and Chris and Josh passed out. Jess, Em and Mike came up with this great idea to prank Hannah, roping Matt and Ashley into their prank with promises of a good time, neither of them really knowing what was going to happen. She thought back to the funeral, where she stayed with Matt, feeling too guilty to be next to Josh and Chris during this trying time. She remembered the dependency she had on Matt, who was the only one who knew how she really felt, or Chris, who was the only one that made her feel like herself anymore. She remembered the invitation back to the lodge where the literal living hell they were put through pushed them together. "I'll get you out of this Ashley!" where he chose her over his best friend for years, or "I got your back, okay? As long as you got mine?" where she felt herself almost give into him. She remembered when he held the gun up to his head and pulled the trigger, willing to kill himself for her. She remembered their first kiss.

"What do you mean, Ash?" Chris looked at his fiancé's eyes, confusion filling his own eyes.

Tears started to fill her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, "for everything that I did. I didn't ever mean to worry you."

Chris smiled. "Hey, hey. Don't apologize. I've done things too. We aren't perfect." Chris paused and looked into Ashley's teary eyes. "We aren't perfect," he repeated, "but we're perfect together."

Ashley looked at him and a smile crossed her face. He knew the right things to say. She loved him and couldn't wait to spend her life with him.


	17. December 24th Part One

**I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently. I was having internet issues and decided to take that as a sign to take a break that way I didn't get burned out. I'm so excited to be back and hope you all enjoy the chapter! Normal updates should continue for the time being. I'll** **let y'all know next time I got on a break, if there is a next time.**

December 24th:

Ashley had woken up several times in the middle of the night, waking up for the final time around five or so in the morning. She gave into the fact that she was going to be unable to go back to sleep. Instead, she embraced it and decided to pull open one of the many books she had been neglecting, (recently she had bought more than her fair share of books at a local bookstore) and opened it. Her goal was to finish the book before Chris woke up. She had no such luck though, only getting to page one seventy one of her book before she felt him stirring next to her.

He let out a soft groan, as he did not like to wake up. The soft light of the lamp she had on woke him up earlier than he had wanted to. When he opened his bright blue eyes Ashely was focused on her book, a small look of concern etched onto her face, large eyes almost squinting as she looked at the words, a tiny frown etched on the corner of her lips. He sighed and rolled on top of her, his chin resting on her shoulder. She was lying on her stomach, a position she would not be able to enjoy in the foreseeable future. "What'cha reading?"

"The Girl on the Train," she answered, not missing a beat. He loved the look of concentration that graced Ashley's face when she got really into a book.

"How is it?"

"Interesting."

He didn't like how vague she was when she was reading, however. Quick answers with no details were her specialty. "Good interesting or bad interesting?"

"Good interesting."

That was that. He saw her turn the page carefully, as to not harm the book, though Chris could tell from how wide the book was that the spine was already a little bit screwed up. Chris gave up trying to talk to Ashley and looked at his phone. It wasn't even eight yet. Sighing, he checked his emails. Nothing interesting. Just a few receipts he didn't want to look at, not wanting to think about the money he had spent. He opened up Netflix and put headphones on. He wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, but he didn't feel like getting out of bed. Instead, he opted to watch an episode of Criminal Minds. He was always saddened slightly when watching this show, not because of the dark content, though that saddened him as well, but because Josh was the one who introduced the show to him. He missed having his best friend. He missed Josh. He knew that it should be him in the best man position instead of Mike, but that was obviously impossible. Mike at least respected that Josh was Chris' best friend what seemed like a lifetime ago. Best man. Chris sighed and looked over to the girl next to him. The show was playing, but he wasn't paying attention. He was watching the rise and fall of her back as she breathed, watching as her hair spilled over the pillow, silently laughing as she put on her glasses, only to have her take them off a minute later, deciding she really didn't need them to read a book that was two inches from her eyes. "Hey Ash," Chris smirked at her after watching her for a few minutes, "guess what."

She tore her attention away from her book and looked at him, a crooked smile on her face, a single dimple on her face. "What?"

He gave her a kiss, ignoring the morning breath both of them had and instead enjoying the feeling of her soft lips on his. When he pulled away he had the cheekiest grin on his face. "We're getting married tomorrow."

She responded with an eye-roll and turning her attention back to her book, though she didn't miss the smile that played on her lips. It was after a few moments Chris heard Louis wining from his kennel. "I'll take him out," Chris said, giving his wife-to-be a quick kiss on the top of the head.

She got up out of the bed, following him. "No, he's my dog. I'll get him."

Chris shook his head. "Not after tomorrow. He's ours then."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "You didn't ask for him."

"Okay, how about a compromise?" Chris was smiling as he spoke.

Ashley crossed her arms, giving him that same, crooked, one-dimpled smile. "And that would be?"

He reached his hand out to hers, weaving his fingers between hers. "How about we both go?"

She smiled. "I'd like that."

Chris put on a pair of sweatpants, a long sleeved shirt, pair of boots, and jacket as Ashley did the same, not feeling like dressing up to take their dog on a walk around the complex. The walked outside, Ashley smiling at all the Christmas decorations that were put up. Chris smiled as he looked at her. They walked they dog, hand in hand, having small, meaningless, but loving conversations. "So, why was Louis named Louis? Was he named after a monarch or something?" Chris noticed Ashley turn bright red. "Oh no. Ash. No."

She gave a small, nervous chuckle. "What?"

"Is your dog named after King Louie from the Jungle Book or the guy from that boy band?"

The blush spread further across Ashley's face and she gave a sort of grimace. "Uh, what would you find worse?"

"It was both wasn't it?"

She resigned. "Yeah." Chris pretended to give Ashley an annoyed scowl, but he was silently laughing. He knew Jungle Book was one of her favorite Disney Movies when she was little, and Jessica had forced Ashley to listen to One Direction when it was the two of them in 2011 because no one else would listen to the boy band with her. Ashley was a fan of the band and listened to some of their music independent from Jessica.

They made their way back to the apartment only to be greeted by freezing and angry looks from Sam and Mike. "What the hell, guys?" Sam asked.

"We called both of you three times at least."

They had left their phones inside. Oops. They let their freezing friends inside and the two of them forced them to pack up. They weren't going to see one another again until the wedding. Chris gave Ashley a kiss as he left, an overnight bag on his shoulder. He was going to be at Mike's place. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

She smiled. "It's a date."


	18. December 24th Part Two

**Hey Avery, I wanted to respond to your review because you brought up a question! :) I am aware that Ashley is the same age as Matt and Jessica, but because she's pregnant she cannot drink. She turned twenty at the beginning of the story, while Chris, Sam, Mike and Em are all twenty-one. Matt and Ash are both twenty, and Jess is nineteen, about to turn twenty, in this interpretation at least. I hope that clears up any questions you, or any other reader has!**

Chapter 24th- Part Two:

Chris sat in Mike's passenger seat, looking out the window, smiling as he watched Ashley wave goodbye from their front porch. She had the biggest smile on her face, and the look in her eyes was so excited. He took in this last moment. This would be the last time he saw her like this, really saw her. This was the last time she was just his girlfriend. Tomorrow everything would be different. There would be a few moments where he would see her, and she would be Ashley Maranda McCarter for only a few moments, then she would be Ashley Maranda Hawkins, his wife. He felt like such a sap for being so in love with her, but he really was. He couldn't imagine anyone else next to him, ever. She's really the only girl he's ever liked, and definitely the only girl he loved. Yeah, they were moving fast, but it was out of necessity. He would have liked to have been more traditional in their courtship, date until they got out of college, propose to her when she graduated, have a wedding after a long engagement, before having a wedding that, in all honestly, was similar to the one they were going to have. There wouldn't be a baby in the picture, though. Not for a few years after they were married, but this wasn't their love story. It was the love story he hadn't realized he had constructed for them in his head. Instead, theirs was not nearly as simple, but just as beautiful.

When they got to Mike's apartment, they were greeted by slobbery kisses from Mike's dog, a large brown brindled pitbull he named Bambi. Mike got her soon after the events of Blackwood, rescuing her from the pound before she was euthanized. He wanted to rescue a dog because of the dog who helped rescue him. The two are quite the devilish pair, although it's hard not to laugh when she has a bright pink collar and a bright pink dog bed in the corner of Mike's room, as well as a bright blue canvas hanging above the bed with Bambi's name written in golden calligraphy. It was apparently a gift from Jessica. When Chris finally managed to get Bambi off of him he turned his attention to the couch, where Matt was sitting, controller out, playing a video game, Grand Theft Auto by the look of it. "Hey man!" Matt called to Chris when he saw him, pausing the game and taking the large bag off of Chris' shoulder.

"Hey!" Matt and Mike shared wicked smiles, and Chris felt a knot grow in his stomach. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no. What are the two of you doing?"

Matt crossed his arms and started to push Chris back out the door. "You'll see when we get there."

Mike chimed in. "If we tell you, you'll bitch out."

Mike shut the door behind him and locked it, after giving Bambi a pat goodbye as they headed back the Mike's car. Apprently, their idea of a clean, stripper free, bachelor party was sky diving. They wouldn't let Chris back out either. "Do you know how hard it is to book skydiving on Christmas Eve? The answer, Chris, very." Mike wouldn't let him back out of it. Chris had to remind himself jumping out of a plane was nothing compared to what had happened on the mountain. He had to keep telling himself that until he had opened the parachute, and was safely on the ground once again. He would never admit it, but skydiving, admittedly, was fun. He wouldn't do it again, though. He didn't want to accidentally kill himself.

Their next idea for a fun bachelor party was something Chris could enjoy a bit more. They had booked a laser tag room in the movie theatre. It was the three of them against a group of ten to thirteen year olds who were bickering with one another the whole time, obviously forced together for a family Christmas. It was an easy win. Chris was glad this was such a chill bachelor party. He knew Josh would have planned something similar to this, were he still alive, not trapped on the mountain as a wendigo. Chris stopped thinking about Josh and focused on why he was even getting to have this party. He was getting to because, tomorrow, he was marrying the most amazing girl in the world. Well, most amazing to him. In another world, this could have turned out different. He thought back to the moment where he had to choose between Josh and Ashley. It was an impossible choice, and it wouldn't have even mattered in the end, but he chose to save Ash. He knew she was special, before they were even an item. Josh was trying to get them together, in his own, delusional way. It worked though. Every second that he spent with her was truly the only thing he wanted to do with his time, and now, he'd get to spend the rest of his life doing the only thing he wants to do with his time. Damn. He punched himself mentally. He started watch romcoms when he was in high school, trying to "get game" to impress Ashley. None of the things he learned in those sappy movies really taught him anything, except that he secretly liked romance movies.

Eventually the guys all headed back to Mike's apartment. Each had a drink, two of them had a video game controller and would switch off. The object of discussion: Fuck, Kill, Marry. It was a favorite pass-time of theirs since high school. "Chris, FMK Jess, Em or Sam?" Mike asked.

Chris had to think. Obviously they would leave Ash out. They knew the answer then. This was more interesting. "Uh, marry Sam because she would be chill, fuck Emily because, well, I'd just fuck her. Jess would be killed by default."

Matt and Mike agreed and nodded along. "Matt," Chris asked, "FMK Ash, Sam and Jess."

Matt thought hard for a moment before coming up with his decision. "I'd kill Sam because she would be the most chill with it, fuck Ash because that would be an interesting story, if nothing else, would come out of it, and marry Jess because she makes a killer apple pie." Mike and Chris agreed with this before Matt asked Mike, "Ash, Sam or Em?"

Mike had to think about this as well, before deciding. "I'd kill Ash. I wouldn't want to, but she's like my sister. It would be weird. I'd fuck Emily because that goes down well, and I agree with Chris. Sam would be the most chill wife ever."

They sat there for a while before Matt spoke up, breaking the silence. "Chris, you're getting married."

Chris nodded. "Yeah."

"To Ashley."

Chris nodded once again. "Yeah."

"It's so weird."

Chris nodded, but he didn't think it was weird. He was getting to be with Ashley sooner than he ever imagined. It seemed like a good thing to him.

 **Thank you all so much for reading! It really means a lot to me. Everyone is so supportive, it's incredible!**


	19. December 24th Part Three

**I'm so sorry it's late! It's been so** **chaotic** **here with packing up to go back college. I'm hoping to get back onto my** **schedule** **within** **the next couple of weeks. I'll keep doing my best to get two chapters out a week. Thank you all so much for being so nice about everything! You are all so sweet.**

December 24th- Part Three:

"So, where are we going?" Ashley asked asked as the two girls drove off, away from the apartment Chris and Ashley shared. Louis was in a kennel, in the back seat, probably passed out. Sam looked at Ashley and gave her a smile.

"We're having a girls day." Sam had a smile on her face. "I was thinking we go to the park and walk around, get a look at the snow and such, get manicures, make ginger bread houses, I know you do that every year. We could go to San Antonio and go on the Riverwalk, look at the Christmas Lights." Sam smiled. "We really just want to have a good time, one last girls day."

Ashley smiles at this, but feels a sense of dread. "It's not the _last_ girl's day. There will be others."

Sam shrugged. "Will it really be the same though?" There was sadness in Sam's voice, Ashley could feel tears start to form in her eyes. She took a deep breath and blinked them back, willing herself to ask more questions, praying this really isn't the last time.

"I will always make time for you, Sam. You're my best friend. You, me, Em and Jess, we've all been through hell together. We're all going to be there for each other."

Sam nodded. "I know that, realistically, but you're getting married, and having a baby. You're having a grown up life, and the rest of us, well, I don't know. It seems worlds away to me. Like that will happen to me, and the others, in another life."

Ashley nodded. She knew what Sam meant. Ashley didn't think any of this would be happening to her so soon. She thought she would get married in her mid to late twenties, not when she was barely done being a teenager, not when she wasn't even old enough to drink. She thought that she would have kids when she was in her early thirties, not now. She thought she had years to still be, well, a kid. She wasn't sure she was ready for all of this. "Am I making a mistake?" Ashley asked after a few moments of silence.

"What?"

Ashley took a breath. "Am I making a mistake? I shouldn't be doing all this now, should I?"

Sam bit her bottom lip, a look of pondering on her face. She thought about what had happened, what had gotten them all to this point. "Do you love Chris?" she asked.

Ashley nodded, no hesitation. "Yeah. I do."

"Do you feel like you could ever regret the choices that brought you here?"

Ashley thought for a moment. "Define here." Ashley thought back to when she was seventeen, to when everyone had too much to drink, ready to do whatever it took to fit in. Ashley would never admit it out loud, but she sometimes felt like an outcast in her own friend group. She wanted to be liked so much, to be someone everyone thought was cool. She drank to fit in, played along with the prank Mike, Em and Jess conjured up, didn't do anything to stop it. "Yeah, I have regrets, but they aren't with Chris."

She thought of the moment, the moment when Chris basically yelled 'I love Ashley' to the whole world, that moment when he put the gun to his jaw, pulled the trigger, ready to die to save Ashley's life. It was a miracle he didn't get a broken jaw, came out with just a bit of bruising. Josh probably figured out a way to alter the gun, make it "safe."

Sam smiled at Ashley. "I don't think you're making any mistakes." Sam took a breath, "Ashley, if I'm completely honest, you're probably the only one of us who could do this. None of us love someone as much as you love Chris, and none of us have someone that loves us as much as Chris loves you." She paused. "I have no doubts that, one day, we will, but for now, you've got this, and Ash, we all love you so much. We're all going to support you."

Ashley could stop the tears. She was fanning her face, trying to not let the mascara ruin, but she knew that was in vain. Eventually, she gave up and just let the tears fall. They listened to music, Michael Buble's Christmas album, both of their favorite, while they finished the two hour drive to San Antonio, where Jess and Emily would meet them, as they both lived there. Emily, being her usual self, spoke first. "What the hell happened to you two?" Ashley wasn't the only one with mascara flowing down her cheeks. Sam had been crying as well. Emily then gave them each a hug and led them inside Jess' apartment. "Come on, let's get you two fixed up."

They all entered Jess' apartment, and Ashley started crying again when she saw the decorations hanging everywhere, a poster in the corner painted beautifully, reading 'Congratulations Ashley' with a couple of presents underneath. "Guys!" Yes, she was crying, but there was also a huge smile on her face. "I cannot believe you all did this!"

Jess smiled. "Well, we can't have a booze filled bachelorette party, so we're having a present filled one."

They made Ashley open her presents, which were books, Disney Movies, and a very sexy nighty that was sure to look great on Ash, as well as get Chris excited. Ashley blushed when she opened this present. They also got her a new dress that would look great on her as they hit up the Riverwalk and enjoyed themselves. It was cute enough for a college student to wear out, but modest enough for a mother to wear as well.

They watched Disney Movies, Beauty and the Beast, Ashley's favorite, Peter Pan, Sam's favorite, Mulan, Emily's favorite, and finally, Lady and the Tramp, Jess's favorite, while giving mani/pedis to one another and making gingerbread houses, eating sugar cookies and getting ready to go out for dinner and look at Christmas Lights. They even gave Louis a small red bow-tie to accompany them. It was a perfect end to the last page of their lives as four single girls.


	20. December 25th Part One

December 25th- Part One:

Chris took a breath as he looked in the mirror. He tugged at his collar, not used to the restricting feeling on his neck. He could feel sweat emerging on the back of his neck, making the room feel sticky. "Is it hot in here to anyone else?" he asked.

Matt and Mike looked at one another before shaking their heads. "It's probably just you, dude," Mike said.

Matt nodded. "It's got to be all the nerves."

Chris nodded in agreement. "Yeah, nerves." Why was he nervous, though? It was Ashley who would be there waiting for him. It was Ashley who was going to be standing there at the end of that aisle.

Chris looked at the clock. It would still be another hour before he had to head to the location. Sighing, he turned on the television that was in the room, browsing through channels, all of them playing a different Christmas movie. "It doesn't really feel like Christmas, does it?" Chris wondered out loud. "I knew it was Christmas, but, usually, by this time, I'm over at my mom's house. Her and I would have exchanged gifts then head over to my grandmother's house and do another gift exchange with her, my cousins, aunts and uncles. We'd be watching one of these stupid specials while all the girls finish making dinner, because they always kick us out of the kitchen. Hell, I know that will be Ash next year. She never wants me in the way while she's cooking." Secretly, imagining Ash with his family next year, making her cupcakes while his grandmother and aunt made the dinner, made him happy. He would be sitting in the den with his cousins and uncles, bouncing their baby on his knee. He imagines a little girl in a big fluffy dress that is far too big for her small frame. It would probably be a dress Jess bought for her.

Chris looked at the time again. It was like none had passed. He wanted to just get to the wedding, be married to Ash. He wanted to let their lives begin. He pulled out his phone, giving a side look to Matt and Mike, seeing if either of them were paying attention to his actions. They were both fixated on the puppet Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer that was playing on the television. He opened Snapchat and took a quick selfie and sent it to Ashley, writing 'see you soon, future ' on the bar. He saved the picture, not because it was particularly good, but because he wanted to remember the excitement of getting to be with Ash. He then sent it, knowing full well it would probably be a while before she got to read it, and even longer before she got to send him a picture back.

Time ticked by slowly, but it did tick by. Eventually, Mike was turning off the television and getting off the edge of the bed he was sitting on. "Alright, vaminos, muchachos." Matt gave Mike a strange look as he spoke, Mike rolling his eyes. "Get off your ass and get into the car, asshole."

Matt let out a small laugh and gave Chris a sideways glance. "I don't know, Mike. I really think Chris just wants to sit here all day."

Chris appreciated the quip from Matt, but couldn't think of a clever response. His mind was racing with too many other thoughts. Instead, he just chuckled and stood up. "Quit being an ass, Matt."

Matt put his hands up in surrender and made his way towards the door, leading the way to Mike's car. "So, did Ashley's parents give in?" Mike asked.

Chris shook his head, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know Ash's mom was pissed when she found out she was pregnant."

Chris nodded. "Well, yeah, obviously. Anyone would be. She shouldn't have taken it out on Ashley, though. Ash invited them to the wedding, at least. Her dad talked her mom into coming. Ashley was going to have her sisters in the wedding party, but we decided the smaller the better."

There were only about fifty guests present. Both of their families had shown up, as well as Bob and Melinda, and a couple of friends from their college, but it was still very small. They liked it that way, though. There was a flower girl, Chris's cousin's daughter, and a ring bearer, his cousin's son. Their mother had been instructing them on what to do, making it a game, having practice weddings at their house, which was really nice of his cousin, especially because they didn't have a rehearsal or a rehearsal dinner. They didn't have the time or money to have one. Besides the two children, Matt, Mike, Em, Sam and Jess were the only people in the wedding party. Chris would have had a third groomsman, but without Josh, it just seemed wrong. He tried to not imagine Josh taking on one of those terrible forms that Hannah took on, but it was hard. That was his best friend, at one time. They were brothers, inseparable.

This wasn't a time to grieve. This was a time to celebrate. This was the day Chris and Ash would get to remember for the rest of their lives. Baby or no baby, Chris knew this is what would have happened to them. He knew their lives would lead here. He didn't know it when he met her, and he didn't know it when he developed his crush on her, but now, it seemed so obvious. Chris looked out the window, the beating of his heart increasing dramatically when they drove up to the location. He had nothing to worry about, he reminded himself. Everything would be just fine, and, before too long, he would be married to his favorite person in the world, and soon after that, they would have a family. He smiled, knowing how great his life was, how fortunate he was. "Alright," he said, "let's do this."


	21. December 25th Part Two

**Sorry about the infrequent updates. I'm trying my hardest, but school comes first. I hope you can forgive me. I'm always working on the chapters in between papers for my classes. Don't think I've forgotten about y'all!**

December 25th: Part Two

Ashley had a hard time falling asleep the night before. There were butterflies fluttering in her stomach all night, causing her to toss and turn all over the bed she was sleeping on all night. She had argued against having the bed, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep, but because she was bride to be, she was going to get it no matter what she protested. On the couch was Sam, while Em and Jess shared an air mattress. Ashley had noticed none of them made huge movements during the night. They were all asleep within an hour of having calling it in for the night. She was the last one asleep, but the first one up as well, waking up thirty minutes or so before the alarm went off. She pulled out the book she was reading, Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks, some novel for fourteen or fifteen year olds that she purchased because it was two dollars and she would never say no to a two dollar book, while she waited for the other girls to wake up. Out of nowhere violin started playing an upbeat, but calm tune. Sam's alarm was going off on her phone. "Rise and shine!" Sam's voice rang through the air. She could be quite the morning person. It was a contrast from Jess and Em, who were rolling over, attempting to block the sound of the alarm.

Ashley picked herself out of the bed, looking over at the clock. It was nine in the morning. It was a two hour drive over to where the wedding was, and where they would be getting ready. The wedding was at two. That would leave about three hours for them to get ready. Was that enough time? Jess, Em and Sam were going to do their own hair and makeup, but the three of them all had their own tasks, Jess doing Ash's hair, Sam doing her makeup, and Em helping out with getting dressed and putting finishing touches on everything. Ashley felt the butterflies turn into a swarm of bees. She was excited, but unbelievably nervous about what was to come. Sam noticed this as Jess and Emily pulled themselves off the air mattress. "Calm down," she smiled at her. "Everything will be alright."

Ashley did everything she could to not work herself up, which was easier said than done. It was understandable why she was an emotional mess. Most brides were. The pregnancy hormones weren't helping. It was hard to tell Ashley was pregnant. She was barely showing, so the baby bump didn't distract. Everyone who was attending the wedding were aware that the reason Chris and Ash were getting married was because she was pregnant, but they were so perfect for one another that that hardly mattered. Ashley had this belief that there were people created for other people. Soul mates, almost. She believed Chris was created for her, or she was created for him. Something like that. Ashley liked to believe that this would have happened regardless. There were tears in her eyes. She felt Sam pull her in for a hug. Ashley's chin rested on the top of Sam's head. How is it that her best friend was so much sorter than her, but carried herself in a way that made her seem so much taller. "You okay?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. Nervous, you know?"

Sam nodded. "I'm sure," she said, "but there's no reason for you to be. You and Chris love each other. I know a lot of people who would kill to have a relationship like yours." Sam took a breath. "Come on. Everything is going to be alright. I know it."

"I know," Ashley responded. "Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything." She gave her friend a hug and felt her chest tighten. This could be the end of Ashley McCarter and Samantha Conners friendship, but it was just the beginning of Samantha Conners and Ashley Hawkins.

Emily was in charge of driving, Ashley sat in the front seat, Sam sitting behind Emily and Jess behind Ash. They all spoke to one another in high pitched chirps, like a group of birds, talking to one another excitedly, about how pretty the wedding was, how beautiful of a bride Ashley would be, how they were actually wearing cute bridesmaid dresses. They looked out the window, looking at the snow that was collecting on the ground outside, in white shimmering hills. Ashley sighed. This time next year she'd have a baby, wearing a festive jacket and hat of some sort. She'd be on her way to have dinner with her family or Chris' family, or her friends. "What'cha thinking about, Ash?" Jess must have noticed Ashley's absentmindedness.

"I was just thinking how different this would be next year. I mean, this Christmas is already so unlike other ones."

Jess gave Ashley a warm smile. "I know what you mean. Everything will be different, but that's not a bad thing, Ash. You love Chris, and the two of you are starting something amazing. You've dealt with so much shit, I mean, we all have, but you came through that and found each other, which I might add, took way to fucking long. You two had been making googly eyes at one another for years." Jessica paused at her ramble and thought back to the years of the group trying to convince Chris and Ash to just get together, Josh having been the most persistent. "Ash, next Christmas you and Chris are going to have such a beautiful life that you won't even realize how scared you are now."

Ashley took comfort in Jessica's words. She could have unusual amounts of wisdom strewn through her words. Ashley thought it was amazing how the blonde could piece together her thoughts, provide wisdom, as well as her usual sassiness, all the while helping her calm down. "Jess," Ashley said, "you're going to be a great aunt." She looked at everyone in the car with a smile on her face. "All of you are."


	22. December 25th Part Three

December 25th: Part Three

It was nearing the time Ashley had to walk down the aisle. Her heart was a hummingbird trapped in a cage, trying desperately to get out. Butterflies flew in her stomach, making Ashley feel vaguely nauseous from the nerves. Her bridesmaids could see this all on Ashley's face, but they didn't say anything. Despite nerves, it was a happy day. Butterflies were to be expected.

Chris stood at the end of the makeshift aisle. Jessica and Emily had managed to book a library for the wedding. They had to call seven or eight places before they found one that was willing to let them have a wedding there on Christmas. It was their surprise to Ashley when she was stressing out about finding a church. When they told her she started crying, part joy and part hormones. When Ashley asked Chris if that would be alright to have a wedding at, he said of course. He didn't regret it.

The other end of the aisle looked so far away to him. Ashley was nervous but Chris was a wreck. The hummingbird in Ashley's chest was a wild bear. The butterflies were an angry swarm of bees. Chris also felt vaguely nauseous. How much longer would he have to wait before she would walk down and become his? How long had he been waiting? Years. It was cliche, but the moment he saw her in class for the first time, he knew that she was something else.

 _Ashley sat next to Emily, looking around nervously as the students wandered into class. First class of the first day of sophomore year of high school. Emily had convinced her to take this class with her, saying Jessica wouldn't even consider it. The class sounded intriguing to Ashley, and it would just help her better her skills as an author in the future. There were three others seated in the class already. One guy had his head on his desk, passed out. Ashley recognized him as being a football player. She occasionally hung out with them when Matt invited her to hang out at his place. She and Jessica were usually the only girls, and the football guys were naturally attracted to Jessica, not that Ashley cared. She liked hiding away in plain sight, sitting on the couch silently, watching as the guys played video games on Matt's giant television._

 _Ashley had no idea who the other two students conversing on the other side of the class were. When the girl walked by Ashley should could smell the marajuana coming from her clothes. The guy probably could too, and while the smell repelled Ashley, it attracted him. She could hear them talking about joints and who the best person to buy from at the school was._

 _Ashley glanced at Emily, who was admiring her nails. Ashley placed her phone on one corner of the desk, using it as a clock since none of the ones in the school seemed to work and opened her copy of Harry Potter, reading it for the seventh or eighth time. Three minutes before the final bell rang a guy ran into the classroom, looking slightly bewildered._

 _He looked around the near empty classroom and tried to pick a seat, deciding the girl with the Harry Potter covering her face would probably be the safest bet. He made his way over to the desk beside her a took a seat before smiling at her and holding out his hand. "Hi, I'm Chris."_

 _The girl placed the book down, placing a torn off piece of notebook paper in the book as a bookmark before holding out her hand out in response. "Ashley."_

 _Chris honestly swore his heart skipped a beat when he looked at her. He wasn't into all that sappy romance stuff, never thinking love at first sight was real. He was too practical for that kind of stuff. Didn't really stop his subconscious from thinking it. To distract himself from his imagination he picked up a piece of paper and showed it to her. "I'm sorry. I'm new here. I just transferred from Trinity."_

 _She gave him a small laugh. "Rich kid, huh?"_

 _Chris laughed. "No, my mom worked there. I was able to attend, but she transferred to a new teaching job and I wasn't able to attend anymore."_

 _Ashley shrugged, but felt bad for the guy. "I'm sorry to hear that."_

 _"_ _It's alright. I still get to see all my friends. We live here, after all." With that he held out the piece of paper and showed her. "Can you tell me where any of these classes are? There's, like three buildings in this school."_

 _"_ _Sure!" She looked at the schedule and didn't know the exact location of all of them, but could point him in the right direction. "The two hundreds are upstairs in this building, but I guess you figured that out. One hundreds are downstairs of this building. The three hundreds are in the building not connected to the school. Five hundreds are in the building next door, the downstairs. You can reach it by going across the hallway with the windows. The six hundreds are the second floor of that building."_

 _Chris nodded, taking note of everything she said. "One hundreds here, two here, three outside, four hundreds... where are the four hundreds?"_

 _Ashley shrugged. "I guess we skipped them."_

 _Chris laughed. "Well, that'll do it!"_

 _The teacher walked in and class began. Two two of them talked in class for the rest of the semester, happy to be in each other's company. Chris introduced Ashley to Sam and the Washington's, friends from his school, and Ashley introduced them to Mike, Jess, Matt and Em. It was incredible the impact one class had. Chris had no idea he was meeting his future wife, and Ashley her future husband._

The wedding march started and all the feelings of nervousness evaporated suddenly. Chris watched calmly as Emily, Jess and Sam each made their way down the aisle, each carrying a bouquet of soft, small white flowers that weren't roses. Chris didn't know much about flowers except roses were Ashley's favorite because one of her favorite movies was Beauty and the Beast. The music suddenly changed and Chris suddenly stopped thinking about flowers, about where he was, about the people watching, sitting in the crowded, makeshift aisles of the library, as he looked at her.

She was beautiful. Her hair was down, curled, with the same kind of soft flowers from the bouquet woven into her hair. The dress was simple, but elegant, and very Ashley. Her makeup was a step above her usual makeup, but still natural looking. She looked like she was concentrating on making sure each step was perfect, not wanting to trip and fall on her wedding day. Chris smiled at her and she smiled back. This was it. She was his.

He looked her in the eyes, smiling at her the whole time, lost in thought about how he was the luckiest guy in world. He heard the minister speaking in the background, but he didn't process a word he said. It wasn't until the preacher tapped Chris on the shoulder Chris even knew something had happened. He was startled out of his thoughts. "What?" The people watching let out a laugh, Ashley's being the loudest.

"Christopher, do you take Ashley to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

Chris nodded enthusiastically. "I- I do. Definitely." There was another laugh, the minister included. Chris meant it when he said the vow.

"Ashley, do you take Christopher to be your wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

Ashley was much more subdued in her vow, happily, shyly, but declaratively speaking. "I do."

The minister smiled. "Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Chris did. Enthusiastically. The kiss for them froze time. Ashley felt like Buttercup in The Princess Bride, Chris her Wesley, thinking about the quote from it.

'Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.'

 **I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! To be completely honest, the idea of writing a wedding chapter intimidated the crap out of me, especially with two characters I love so much. I hope I did it justice.**

 **I also published a new story, Fairy Lights, which is another sequel type story to Until Dawn, but a bit darker than this one, still very Chris and Ashley-centric, with the twist Josh survived. If y'all have time please go check it out!**

 **Again, I'm so sorry for the wait!**


	23. January 23rd

January 23rd:

Ashely wanted to keep attending school, but she also wanted to be realistic. She wasn't going to be able to keep up in class, and she didn't want to have constant stares, so she decided she was going to finish her basics online and continue with classes once the baby was born. She and Chris would take classes at different times next semester so there would always be someone at home with the baby and Louis. It had been a month since she and Chris had gotten married and she couldn't be happier. It was a month of pure bliss, and they realized how amazing their friends were. Each of them had offered her and Chris support, each promising to babysit or help Ash out with her classes whenever she needed it. Jess and Em were totally into throwing a gender reveal party, demanding that she not look at the gender when the appointment came, instead ask for the envelope.

Despite this, Ashley was nervous. The appointment to find out the gender was today, and the party was going to be this weekend. Chris felt bad because he couldn't come, but it was his first day of classes. Ashley felt a bit more confident because she had a ring on her finger. No one would give her the icy glares she would get from other moms or older nurses. Just because her baby was an accident didn't mean it was unloved.

"If you need anything at all, just text me. I'll be there," Chris had told her before he left for his eight am. His class schedule was eight to noon, Monday through Thursday, no Friday or afternoon classes. He would wear his papa bear shirt as often as he could. Ashley had no doubts Chris was excited as well.

Even Louis was excited. He would spin around in circles or rest his head on Ashley's lap when she would be on her laptop, reading a book, or watching television. He continued to get his daily walk, though Ashley wouldn't always be the one to take him out like she used to, so he was still happy, didn't feel like he was being replaced. She was proud of her little family.

Ashley looked at the clock. Chris went to class an hour ago, and her appointment was in at ten. Jess would be here in thirty minutes to pick her up and take her to the appointment, as she was taking night classes and was the only one who would be able to go with her. Ashley ventured to her closet and pulled out a pair of black leggings, a pair that were too large when she bought them but were now starting to fit just right, as well as a loose white blouse with a black design stitched on. She then grabbed her black fleece lined boots and started on her makeup, putting minimal effort into it, just a bare minimum to cover her breakouts and make it look like she wasn't in the Walking Dead. She had just finished putting on her mascara when there was a knock at the door. Ashley quickly applied a lipgloss, grabbed her purse, and opened the door. Jessica was standing there in all her beautiful glory. "Hey, Ash! Ready to go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

A large smile spread across her face. "Great!" She then turned her attention to Ashley's, now prominent, but still small, baby bump. "Don't let Aunt Jess, down, okay baby? Be a girl."

Ashley laughed. "Don't you and Em have a bet going on?"

Jess flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and gave a small, meek, laugh that confirmed Ashley's suspicions. "So, what does the winner get?"

"If I win she has to do my online Algebra for the rest of the semester. I'm shit at math." Ashley nodded in response. She was terrible at math too. Chris was already having to help her when she started doing her online stuff last night. "And if she wins I have to go on a date with this loser in her mock trial group who won't take no for an answer."

"Gross." There was a part of Ashley that was mildly amused that she was going to affect the lives of her friends so much. "I'm going to have to side with Em, though. Chris and I have our own bet going on and I'm thinking it's going to be a boy."

Jessica rolled her eyes and hopped into her Camry, Ashley getting into shotgun. "Traitor, but it's a fifty-fifty shot, and I don't know how'd you'd raise a boy, so I think the odds are in my favor."

"How?" The light giggling that had been going on between the two of them had exploded into full blown laughter. "Biology doesn't work like that."

"Didn't you drop out of Bio?"

It was Ashley's turn to roll her eyes. She stuck her tongue out and turned on the music, playing One Direction, as Jessica was the one that introduced her to the band and the two of them still listened to them on their private outings, to the embarrassment of the others. Jessica was the first one to know the _true_ origin of her dog's name.

They made it to the hospital with seven minutes to spare before Ashley's appointment, so they continued to gossip about life, how things were going between Jessica and Mike (very good, in more ways than one, but as much as Jessica loved Ashley and Chris, and as much as she was going to love their baby, she was hoping to not end up in their position) and what it was like to be married (not very different actually, but Chris no longer has the fear that Ashley is going to break up with him for something trivial like forgetting to turn the lights in the living room off). Three women went into the examination room and left before Ashley was called in, at eleven, an hour late, as to be expected in a doctors office. The girls picked up their things and walked into the room where a smiling nurse asked is Ashley wanted to know the gender of her baby. Jessica gave the nurse explicit instructions to not tell Ashley but to put the gender in the envelope and give to envelope to her. The nurse looked to Ashley for confirmation and she nodded. "Jess wants to throw a gender reveal party."

"Ah, I see. Well have fun!"

Jessica winked at the nurse. "Oh, we will."

Ashley felt the blood drain from her face. What on earth were her friends planning?

 **Thank y'all so much for reading! Gender will be revealed in the next chapter. If you're** **liking** **this story then I suggest you go check out Until We Meet Again by Bookreader525. It's** ** _really_** **good and I cannot praise it enough.**

 **I took a poll for what gender everyone thought the baby would be and here are the results! 57% of you think it's going to be a girl, 28% of you think it's going to be a boy, and 14% think it will be both. Please let me know what y'all thought! It was fun writing Jess and Ashley since they never really get to interact.**


	24. January 28th

January 28th:

It had been an interesting week for Chris and Ashley. They celebrated one month of marriage, but the celebration was overshadowed by the anticipation of whether they were having a boy or a girl. They knew Jess and Emily had the envelope, though neither of them looked inside. They said they had a plan. The two of them had been planning this since they announced they were having the baby. Finally, the day of the gender reveal party came and they could steady their nerves and get to planning, something Chris had been wanting to do for months now. He wanted to have everything ready to go as soon as possible. Ashley wanted to be ready as well, but she was willing to take her time doing so.

"Ready to go?" Chris asked Ashley, as she sat on the bed lazily flipping through the pages of her book. She looked up and gave him a smile. They were meeting the group at eight. It was Seven thirty-nine right now.

"Yeah." She grabbed the receipt from the book and placed it between the pages, smiling. "I'm nervous." Despite her nerves there was a smile on her face. "I know we didn't plan this, like, at all, but I'm still really excited."

Chris walked over to his wife -wow, it was amazing to be able to say that- and took her hand. "I know exactly how you feel." Saying they were young was the understatement of the century, but young didn't mean bad. It just meant they would have more of their life with their kid.

The drive to the mystery address seemed to take forever, even though the drive was only about fifteen minutes. Their smiles brightened when they saw where they were. The bowling alley. Memories of the group coming to these places, spending hours at the between the arcade and lanes, giving each other fun names and wearing those horrible black and red shoes while pouring Diet Coke or Dr. Pepper out of pitchers into their respective cups, forgetting which was their own by the time the night ended, eating mediocre pizza and nachos... it was all flooding back to them.

They went inside and rented the shoes, Ashley feeling excited. Their group was crowding at a lane near the arcade, centered in all of the excitement that came with the bowling alley. Pink and blue balloons signaled their location, names written on the screen, though the game hadn't started. The two of them noticed people eyeing their booth, professional bowlers and six year olds, and everyone in between. It was crowded, seeing it was a Saturday night. Several couples sat around waiting for all the lanes to open up. Ashley anticipated they would be there until the alley closed at one in the morning.

They received cheers from their friends when they arrived. There was a large cake on the table with white icing and pink and blue dots. It was cute. There were a few gifts spread out on the table, as well as pitchers of soda and pizza. "Okay," Jess said, passing out the presents to everyone in attendance except herself and Emily. "Everyone put these on." Everyone looked at Jess and she gave an innocent smile, only Emily having a calm smirk on her face. Everyone did as they were told, pulling out baseball caps that were either pink or blue in color, Ashley, Sam, and Mike pulling out light blue caps, Chris and Matt pulling out light pink ones. At this time Em and Jess each put on their own hat, pink for Jess and blue for Em, onto their heads. "Everyone who has a blue cap is on Em's team for bowling, everyone with pink is on my team!"

Chris and Ashley exchanged a look and smiled. "So why are we doing this?" Chris asked. Jess seemed excited, but they weren't sure how bowling was going to reveal the gender, exactly.

Em was the one who answered. "The losing team gets to clean up. Winning team gets to be in the shot while you two do the reveal." She looked at Chris and Matt, who both looked very concerned about being out numbered. "Daddy to be has his name up their twice so no worries. It'll all even out." Everyone looked at the scoreboard and, sure enough, Chris was written up their twice, once as 'Daddy,' and once as 'Daddy AF,' meriting a laugh from Ashley. Everyone had fun names up there. Ashley was 'Momma,' Jess and Em were 'Auntie Jess' and 'Vodka Aunt,' Sam was up there as 'Aunt Sammie,' Matt and Mike were 'Uncle Matt' and 'Cool Uncle.' It looked like it would be fun.

Three rounds of bowling, a win from each team, Ashley, surprisingly, kicking ass, winning the first game for her team, ever the athlete Matt the second game for his team, it all came down to this. Ashley needed to knock over seven pins and her team would win the game. "Come on, Momma! You can do it!" Sam called. Ashley rolled her eyes and laughed. It was weird to be called that. She was the second youngest in the group, only Jess being younger, and she was being called a name that made her sound so much older. It was strange. She took a deep breath and centered herself. She could feel her wrist getting tired. She shook it out and picked up the ball. This was her last chance. She had already gotten a gutter ball. One more and she was out. She walked up to the edge of the lane, swung her arm back, getting ready to release her grip on the ball as it swung forward, when a kiss on her neck and arms wrapped around her waist caused her to slip, sending the ball directly into the gutter.

Ashley turned around and gave the person clinging onto her an angry, though good natured, punch in the shoulder. "Cheater!" She was face to face with Chris, who just had a smirk on his face. "You cheat!"

"Where in the rules did it say I couldn't do that?" Ashley crossed her arms and walked back over to her teammates, all protesting in their own way, while Jessica and Matt cheered. There was a fake pout on her face. "Sorry, babe," is all Chris managed to say, still smiling at his 'victory.'

"You're going to make your _pregnant_ wife clean up after this just so you could secure the win?" The attitude was light hearted, everyone laughing at Ashley's comeback.

"She got you there, dude." Mike said. "You'll be sleeping on the couch for a week if you don't take her spot."

Chris rolled his eyes and placed a kiss on Ashley's forehead. "Fine, I guess."

Still celebrating her team's "victory" Jessica pulled up a large wrapped box from under the table, wrapped in blue paper, topped with a big pink bow. "I had one of my friends from English Lit set this up. I don't even know what's inside."

The table started to fill with excitement. Sam pulled out her phone to film, Matt and Jess crowding around Chris and Ash as they opened the box. Ashely could vaguely feel the eyes of the other bowling alley patrons watching them. Who wouldn't be paying attention to something as amazing as this? They opened the box and balloons came flying out. It took a second for Ashley to process what was happening. She couldn't believe it. A smile spread on her face and she turned to face Chris, a large smile on his face as well. They embraced and shared a kiss. She could hear everyone in the alley applauding them, cheering coming especially loud from their friends. They were cheering for her, Chris, and their baby girl.

 **Yay! Gender reveal! It's going to be a girl. Congrats to all of you who got it right. The image of Chris with a little girl to me is too cute to resist. The next challenge will be whether she's going to be named Hannah or Beth. I've decided, but another poll with your guesses could be fun. You should all go check that out! ;) Leave a review and tell me what y'all thought about a balloon bowling reveal! I realized halfway through writing the chapter I've had the gang bowl in another of my stories, Cages, so the group enjoying bowling is now one of my head canons. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed!**


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